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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. chest — a box
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. clip — for paper
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. chest — of your body
  11. clip — to cut
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. face — part of the head
  14. rash — a series
  15. wind — moving air
  16. face — to confront
  17. wind — moving air
  18. march — the month
  19. chest — of your body
  20. march — the month
  21. clip — a video
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. march — music
  24. safe — out of danger

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