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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. tube — a container
  3. race — humankind
  4. face — part of the head
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. kid — child
  8. net — for catching
  9. mug — to rob
  10. net — after costs
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. squash — the sport
  13. mug — a face
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. mug — a cup
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. kid — to tease
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. net — in sport
  24. face — to point toward

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