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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. ball — a dance
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. wind — moving air
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. ball — a great time
  10. perch — the fish
  11. wind — moving air
  12. current — electric
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. current — of water
  15. current — happening now
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kick — in football
  20. chest — of your body
  21. face — part of the head
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. face — to point toward
  24. chest — a box

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