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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 120 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pop — to visit
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cue — for pool
  5. cue — a hint
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. cap — a lid
  8. face — to point toward
  9. cap — of ice
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — music
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cue — a signal
  14. face — part of the head
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — finally
  17. last — final
  18. wind — moving air

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