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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 116 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — to visit
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. kick — in football
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pop — soda
  10. file — a document
  11. bark — to shout
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bat — the animal
  17. file — a tool
  18. fall — the season
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. file — a line of people
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. perch — the fish

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