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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. face — to point toward
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. last — to go on
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. pop — soda
  9. key — the most important part
  10. key — for a lock
  11. pop — music
  12. rash — a series
  13. face — to confront
  14. last — finally
  15. last — final
  16. shower — rain
  17. pop — to visit
  18. rash — hasty
  19. shower — to wash
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. face — part of the head
  22. wound — an injury
  23. key — in music
  24. wound — an injury

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