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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cold — not warm
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. mate — to breed
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. mate — a partner
  7. shower — to wash
  8. face — to point toward
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — a series
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bank — for money
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rash — hasty
  16. mate — a friend
  17. bank — of a river
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — thin
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. face — part of the head
  23. shower — rain
  24. bank — for money

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