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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pound — a weight
  5. capital — a city
  6. face — part of the head
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. fall — the season
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. bark — to shout
  12. fall — to drop
  13. wake — a trail
  14. squash — the sport
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. face — to point toward
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. fall — to drop
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. capital — 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