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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: face · march · wind · toast · spring · cell · stand · bat

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. spring — of water
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bat — the animal
  5. face — to point toward
  6. cell — in biology
  7. spring — the season
  8. cell — a phone
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. wind — moving air
  11. stand — to bear
  12. wind — moving air
  13. spring — a coil
  14. march — the month
  15. face — to confront
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. march — the month
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. face — part of the head
  21. march — music
  22. toast — bread
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cell — in a prison

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