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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 120 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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pound — a weight
  3. face — part of the head
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. mate — a partner
  6. shower — to wash
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — to breed
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. shower — rain
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. face — to point toward
  16. lie — to recline
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to click
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. kick — in football
  24. mine — for digging

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