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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. face — to point toward
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — to shout
  6. scale — in music
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. face — part of the head
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. face — to confront
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. chest — of your body
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. board — a committee
  16. scale — size or range
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. board — to get on
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. chest — a box

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