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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 124 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. face — to point toward
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. face — part of the head
  7. band — a music group
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. season — of the year
  11. scale — in music
  12. net — after costs
  13. lie — to recline
  14. band — a ring
  15. face — to confront
  16. season — in sport
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. cell — in biology
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cell — a phone
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. scale — size or range

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