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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 116 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. spring — the season
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — a practice
  5. key — in music
  6. root — the cause
  7. cold — not warm
  8. root — of a plant
  9. spring — a coil
  10. key — for a lock
  11. face — to point toward
  12. spring — of water
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. key — the most important part
  15. drill — army training
  16. cold — an illness
  17. root — of a word
  18. face — to confront

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