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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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. mate — a friend
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — to confront
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. staff — employees
  6. mate — a partner
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. roll — a cake
  9. mine — for digging
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. roll — a list
  15. staff — a stick
  16. pound — a weight
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. staff — employees
  19. face — part of the head
  20. mate — to breed
  21. shower — to wash
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. shower — rain
  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