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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 120 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 had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  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. face — part of the head
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. hand — in cards
  5. race — humankind
  6. lean — thin
  7. mate — a friend
  8. race — a contest
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bark — to shout
  12. hand — help
  13. mate — to breed
  14. prune — to trim
  15. capital — money
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. race — the arms race
  19. capital — a city
  20. prune — to trim
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. mate — a partner
  23. lean — to bend
  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