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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. charge — a price
  3. clip — a video
  4. face — part of the head
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. chest — of your body
  7. hand — in cards
  8. race — the arms race
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. clip — for paper
  11. race — a contest
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. hand — help
  16. race — humankind
  17. clip — to cut
  18. prune — to trim
  19. chest — a box
  20. charge — electricity
  21. charge — in control
  22. face — to confront
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. chest — of your body

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