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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. face — to confront
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. present — a gift
  6. present — the time now
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. craft — boats
  11. craft — a skill
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. mine — for digging
  17. face — part of the head
  18. present — there
  19. kid — child
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bat — the animal
  22. dip — to sink
  23. pitch — completely
  24. kid — to tease

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