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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. march — the month
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. face — to confront
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — the animal
  7. face — part of the head
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. land — to come down
  14. foot — a measure
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. hand — help
  19. march — the month
  20. land — a country
  21. cell — in biology
  22. march — music
  23. land — ground
  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