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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. prune — to trim
  3. firm — steady
  4. tear — to rip
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. face — to point toward
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. firm — a company
  10. mate — a partner
  11. tear — from crying
  12. press — to push
  13. file — a line of people
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. mate — to breed
  17. tear — from crying
  18. press — newspapers
  19. file — a tool
  20. press — a publisher
  21. face — part of the head
  22. firm — decided
  23. mate — a friend
  24. file — a document

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