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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. sharp — clever
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. face — to point toward
  8. vault — a safe
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. wax — to grow
  11. branch — a division
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a path
  14. face — part of the head
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. chip — to eat
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. chip — for betting
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. cell — in biology
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. track — a song
  24. chip — in a computer

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