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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. capital — a city
  5. mug — a face
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. face — to point toward
  8. mug — to rob
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. mug — a cup
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. file — a document
  14. wound — an injury
  15. dip — to sink
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wound — an injury
  18. face — part of the head
  19. capital — money
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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