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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 116 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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. drill — a practice
  4. cold — not warm
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. vault — a safe
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. drill — the tool
  13. face — part of the head
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. wound — an injury
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. face — to point toward
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. cold — an illness
  22. drill — army training
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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