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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. bank — for money
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — a stick
  9. staff — employees
  10. net — for catching
  11. cold — not warm
  12. root — of a word
  13. face — to point toward
  14. stem — to come from
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bank — for money
  17. game — a match
  18. root — of a plant
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. root — the cause
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bank — of a river
  24. cold — the Cold War

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