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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cold — not warm
  3. firm — decided
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bulb — for light
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cell — a phone
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. deal — to handle
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. firm — a company
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. cell — in biology
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. prune — to trim
  21. firm — steady
  22. face — to point toward
  23. face — part of the head
  24. deal — an agreement

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