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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. face — to confront
  3. lean — to bend
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. face — part of the head
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. pop — soda
  8. rule — government
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. bulb — for light
  11. lean — thin
  12. cold — an illness
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. rule — a law
  15. face — to point toward
  16. bat — the animal
  17. pop — to visit
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bulb — for light
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. pop — music

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