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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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Word bank
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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: nail · wind · kid · last · chest · season · bulb · face

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. kid — to tease
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. wind — moving air
  5. face — part of the head
  6. chest — of your body
  7. face — to confront
  8. chest — of your body
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wind — moving air
  11. last — final
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. face — to point toward
  14. season — of the year
  15. bulb — for light
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. last — finally
  19. kid — child
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bulb — for light
  22. season — in sport
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. chest — a box

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