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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 116 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. object — an aim
  4. race — a contest
  5. kid — child
  6. staff — a stick
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. spring — a coil
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. race — the arms race
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. kid — to tease
  13. face — to point toward
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. spring — the season
  16. staff — employees
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. spring — of water
  19. object — a thing
  20. object — to protest
  21. staff — employees
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. race — humankind
  24. face — part of the head

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