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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. rash — hasty
  8. tear — from crying
  9. face — to point toward
  10. field — for sport
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. field — a subject
  18. tear — from crying
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. field — farmland
  22. stem — to come from
  23. face — part of the head
  24. snap — to click

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