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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mate — a partner
  3. pop — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. mate — to breed
  8. present — there
  9. present — a gift
  10. clip — to cut
  11. object — to protest
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — an aim
  14. chest — a box
  15. face — to point toward
  16. mate — a friend
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pop — soda
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pop — to visit
  23. present — the time now
  24. chest — of your body

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