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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. land — ground
  3. net — for catching
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. capital — money
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. rash — hasty
  9. land — a country
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. face — to confront
  13. rash — a series
  14. dip — to sink
  15. capital — a city
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. face — to point toward
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. land — to come down
  20. snap — to click
  21. net — after costs
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. net — in sport
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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