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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. face — to confront
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. prune — to trim
  7. face — to point toward
  8. cold — an illness
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a music group
  11. prune — to trim
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — shares
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. kick — in football
  19. cold — not warm
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. cold — the Cold War

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