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

Word bank: bowl · face · scale · wind · tear · cabinet · chip · spring

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. wind — moving air
  11. spring — of water
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. scale — in music
  15. spring — a coil
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chip — to eat
  18. face — to point toward
  19. tear — from crying
  20. chip — for betting
  21. scale — size or range
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. spring — the season
  24. face — part of the head

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