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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. last — to go on
  3. chest — a box
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. last — final
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pop — to visit
  9. chest — of your body
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. face — to point toward
  12. pop — music
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. capital — money
  15. shower — rain
  16. face — part of the head
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. last — finally
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. capital — a city
  21. shower — to wash
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pop — soda
  24. perch — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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