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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. face — to confront
  4. last — final
  5. chip — for betting
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. chip — to eat
  9. row — a line
  10. rush — hurry
  11. wound — an injury
  12. drill — army training
  13. last — to go on
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. stem — to come from
  17. face — to point toward
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. drill — the tool
  20. last — finally
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. drill — a practice
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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