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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. fall — to drop
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. spell — letters
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. spell — a short time
  9. fall — to drop
  10. object — an aim
  11. scale — size or range
  12. object — to protest
  13. face — to point toward
  14. spell — magic
  15. object — a thing
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. land — to come down
  18. fall — the season
  19. land — a country
  20. scale — in music
  21. wake — a trail
  22. land — ground
  23. face — part of the head
  24. scale — for weighing

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