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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 116 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: kick · straw · pit · face · leaves · mark · swing · game

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. game — a match
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. game — wild animals
  7. kick — in football
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. swing — in golf
  10. face — part of the head
  11. swing — to play on
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. mark — a trace
  15. swing — music
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. face — to point toward
  18. pit — a hole
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. mark — a grade
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — in a race

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