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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bat — the animal
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — to paddle
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. bore — to drill
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. race — a contest
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. race — the arms race
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — part of the head
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to tire
  21. row — a line
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. race — humankind
  24. bat — for baseball

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