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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. wind — moving air
  3. present — the time now
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to point toward
  7. present — a gift
  8. content — happy
  9. wind — moving air
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. drill — a practice
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. content — the amount
  14. present — there
  15. drill — the tool
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. drill — army training

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