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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. lie — to recline
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. board — to get on
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. clip — a video
  10. face — to point toward
  11. board — a committee
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. key — for a lock
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cell — a phone
  16. key — in music
  17. clip — for paper
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cell — in biology
  20. stem — to come from
  21. cold — an illness
  22. key — the most important part
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. clip — to cut

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