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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · rock · sharp · cold · game · face

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. rock — music
  3. sharp — clever
  4. wind — moving air
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. face — to point toward
  7. rock — a stone
  8. cold — not warm
  9. face — part of the head
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. game — wild animals
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wind — moving air
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cold — an illness
  16. face — to confront
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. wind — to turn a key

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