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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · ball · wound · wind · mine · scale · rush · face

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rush — hurry
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. face — to point toward
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chair — a leader
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. scale — size or range
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. mine — for digging
  15. ball — a dance
  16. scale — in music
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wind — moving air
  21. face — to confront
  22. face — part of the head
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rush — a thrill

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