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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. kick — in football
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. lean — to bend
  7. tear — from crying
  8. court — for sport
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. court — of law
  11. face — part of the head
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. court — of a king
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. degree — an amount
  20. fork — in a road
  21. lean — thin
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. kick — with a leg

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