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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — to point toward
  3. row — a line
  4. bulb — for light
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bulb — for light
  8. last — finally
  9. row — to paddle
  10. degree — an amount
  11. face — part of the head
  12. pop — music
  13. pop — soda
  14. degree — temperature
  15. tear — to rip
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. field — for sport
  18. pop — to visit
  19. field — farmland
  20. last — to go on
  21. field — a subject
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. last — final
  24. tear — from crying

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