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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. board — to get on
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. march — music
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to point toward
  9. board — a committee
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. spring — the season
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. sharp — clever
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — a break
  18. clip — a video
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — of water
  22. rest — what's left
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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