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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. cold — not warm
  3. present — there
  4. present — a gift
  5. face — to point toward
  6. ground — crushed
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. present — the time now
  10. court — for sport
  11. face — to confront
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. court — of law
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. ground — a position
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bound — obliged
  19. face — part of the head
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bound — tied together
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. court — of a king

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