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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. drill — the tool
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. tear — to rip
  7. drill — a practice
  8. face — to confront
  9. squash — the sport
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bark — to shout
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. drill — army training
  16. face — part of the head
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. tear — from crying
  20. scale — size or range
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. scale — in music
  23. squash — to crush
  24. tear — from crying

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