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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. face — to point toward
  3. scale — in music
  4. snap — to click
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. fall — the season
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. net — for catching
  11. bear — the animal
  12. net — after costs
  13. fall — to drop
  14. face — to confront
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. mine — for digging
  18. face — part of the head
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. scale — size or range
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. bear — the animal
  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