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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. scale — in music
  3. mate — a friend
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. face — part of the head
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. mate — to breed
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — magic
  17. scale — size or range
  18. mate — a partner
  19. face — to confront
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — a short time
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. scale — for weighing

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