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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. face — to confront
  3. spring — the season
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — part of the head
  7. spring — of water
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bat — the animal
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. rest — what's left
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. spring — a coil
  15. date — the fruit
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. rest — what's left
  18. roll — a cake
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. roll — a list
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — in a road

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