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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 116 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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — part of the head
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. bat — the animal
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. march — the month
  9. dip — to sink
  10. bear — the animal
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. mine — for digging
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. march — music
  15. face — to confront
  16. cell — a phone
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bear — the animal
  23. march — the month
  24. bear — to put up with

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