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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mate — to breed
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mate — a friend
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. root — of a plant
  9. pop — music
  10. face — part of the head
  11. root — of a word
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. face — to point toward
  14. game — wild animals
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bark — to shout
  19. root — the cause
  20. game — a match
  21. pop — to visit
  22. mate — a partner
  23. pop — soda
  24. chair — a professorship

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