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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. race — the arms race
  5. cell — a phone
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — a line
  8. face — part of the head
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. craft — a skill
  11. craft — boats
  12. face — to point toward
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. row — to paddle
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. race — a contest
  17. cell — in biology
  18. race — humankind

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