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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: present · wind · hand · cap · bat · land · face · bay

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. cap — a lid
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. land — ground
  9. hand — help
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cap — a hat
  12. land — a country
  13. face — to point toward
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. land — to come down
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. face — to confront
  18. present — a gift
  19. cap — of ice
  20. wind — moving air
  21. present — the time now
  22. face — part of the head
  23. hand — in cards
  24. present — there

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