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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. scale — in music
  3. face — part of the head
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. court — for sport
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. face — to point toward
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. mine — for digging
  11. court — of law
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cold — not warm
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. press — newspapers
  16. cold — an illness
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. press — a publisher
  21. dip — to sink
  22. court — of a king
  23. press — to push
  24. cold — the Cold War

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