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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. chest — of your body
  3. game — wild animals
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. toast — bread
  6. hand — in cards
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hand — help
  9. mug — to rob
  10. game — a match
  11. bear — the animal
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. face — part of the head
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. face — to point toward
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. mug — a face
  21. chest — a box
  22. mug — a cup
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bear — the animal

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