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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. face — to confront
  3. season — in sport
  4. wound — an injury
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. object — an aim
  7. wind — moving air
  8. season — of the year
  9. wound — an injury
  10. object — to protest
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. object — a thing
  17. face — to point toward
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. land — a country
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. land — to come down
  23. face — part of the head
  24. wind — moving air

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