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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. net — after costs
  3. shower — to wash
  4. kid — child
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cap — of ice
  8. face — to point toward
  9. prune — to trim
  10. net — for catching
  11. race — the arms race
  12. net — in sport
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. kid — to tease
  15. shower — rain
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cap — a hat
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. lie — to recline
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. prune — to trim
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — humankind

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