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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. face — to confront
  4. pop — to visit
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a partner
  9. key — in music
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pop — soda
  15. mate — a friend
  16. face — part of the head
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. face — to point toward
  20. saw — the tool
  21. key — for a lock
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. key — the most important part
  24. tear — to rip

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