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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 · bark · wind · object · toast · wound · chest · last

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. face — to confront
  3. object — to protest
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. last — final
  6. wound — an injury
  7. last — finally
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chest — a box
  10. face — to point toward
  11. object — an aim
  12. wind — moving air
  13. face — part of the head
  14. bark — to shout
  15. chest — of your body
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. last — to go on
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. toast — bread
  22. object — a thing
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — of a tree

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