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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 120 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. lie — to recline
  4. face — to point toward
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. snap — to click
  7. tear — from crying
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. tear — to rip
  11. prune — to trim
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. mate — a friend
  14. face — to confront
  15. branch — a division
  16. prune — to trim
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. mate — to breed
  21. face — part of the head
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. tear — from crying
  24. prune — the fruit

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