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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. wind — moving air
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. prune — to trim
  6. suit — in cards
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. clip — to cut
  11. suit — to fit
  12. capital — a city
  13. board — to get on
  14. wind — moving air
  15. clip — for paper
  16. face — part of the head
  17. capital — money
  18. rule — government
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. face — to point toward
  21. board — a committee
  22. clip — a video
  23. suit — clothes
  24. rule — a law

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