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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. ground — the earth
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. capital — money
  10. present — a gift
  11. branch — a division
  12. ground — crushed
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. present — there
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. ground — a position
  21. face — part of the head
  22. present — the time now
  23. face — to point toward
  24. capital — a city

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