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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — to confront
  4. shower — to wash
  5. spring — the season
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rest — what's left
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mate — a friend
  10. saw — the tool
  11. spring — of water
  12. rest — a break
  13. track — a song
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. track — a path
  17. prune — to trim
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. rest — what's left
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. face — part of the head
  22. shower — rain
  23. mate — a partner
  24. track — to keep track

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