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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mug — to rob
  3. squash — the sport
  4. prune — to trim
  5. squash — to crush
  6. chest — a box
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. face — part of the head
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. face — to point toward
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. mug — a cup
  17. prune — to trim
  18. mug — a face

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