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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. face — to confront
  3. mark — a grade
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bore — to tire
  13. mark — a trace
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bore — to drill
  16. scale — in music
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. face — part of the head
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. wax — to grow
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. face — to point toward

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