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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. toast — bread
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. firm — decided
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cell — a phone
  7. firm — steady
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to point toward
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bark — to shout
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. firm — a company
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. field — a subject
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. field — for sport
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. field — farmland

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