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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. cue — a hint
  6. row — a line
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wound — an injury
  10. ground — a position
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. ground — the earth
  13. rush — hurry
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cue — for pool
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. chest — of your body
  20. fork — in a road
  21. chest — of your body
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cue — a signal
  24. chest — a box

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