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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. prune — to trim
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. march — the month
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cold — not warm
  12. press — newspapers
  13. face — part of the head
  14. press — to push
  15. mine — for digging
  16. press — a publisher
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. prune — to trim
  19. march — music
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — to eat
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. mine — belonging to me

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