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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 120 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 can't ________________ this cold.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. dip — to sink
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. face — to confront
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to point toward
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. kid — to tease
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. shower — rain
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. kid — child
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. wound — an injury
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. stand — on your feet

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