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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 120 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've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. spell — a short time
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. bass — the fish
  8. clip — a video
  9. spell — magic
  10. clip — for paper
  11. face — part of the head
  12. spell — letters
  13. bank — for money
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. bass — low music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. clip — to cut
  18. face — to point toward
  19. bank — for money
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bank — of a river
  24. wave — with your hand

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