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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 124 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. ball — a great time
  4. land — ground
  5. court — for sport
  6. present — there
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. face — part of the head
  9. root — of a plant
  10. face — to point toward
  11. present — a gift
  12. court — of a king
  13. root — the cause
  14. wax — to grow
  15. snap — to click
  16. land — a country
  17. court — of law
  18. ball — a dance
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. present — the time now
  21. land — to come down
  22. root — of a word
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. ball — a round shape

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