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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 120 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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. chest — a box
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. present — the time now
  5. face — to confront
  6. present — there
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. mug — to rob
  11. file — a tool
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. pound — a weight
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. file — a document
  17. bat — the animal
  18. file — a line of people
  19. rush — hurry
  20. mug — a cup
  21. present — a gift
  22. chest — of your body
  23. face — part of the head
  24. face — to point toward

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