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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. face — to confront
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pit — in a race
  6. object — to protest
  7. game — a match
  8. squash — to crush
  9. rock — music
  10. plane — a tool
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. face — to point toward
  15. squash — the sport
  16. object — an aim
  17. rock — a stone
  18. pit — a hole
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. object — a thing
  22. cold — not warm
  23. game — wild animals
  24. rock — to move gently

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