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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. spring — the season
  3. hand — help
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. spring — of water
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. face — part of the head
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. bark — to shout
  15. spring — a coil
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. snap — to click
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. face — to point toward
  24. fan — a supporter

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