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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. land — ground
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — in sport
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. saw — the tool
  11. cold — an illness
  12. face — part of the head
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — not warm
  16. game — wild animals
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. face — to confront
  20. game — a match
  21. fork — in a road
  22. land — a country
  23. face — to point toward
  24. fork — to eat with

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com