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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. face — part of the head
  3. root — of a plant
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a word
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — to shout
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. face — to confront
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. tear — to rip
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. bat — the animal
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bark — of a tree

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