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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. face — to confront
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. rock — a stone
  5. march — the month
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. rock — music
  8. face — part of the head
  9. root — of a word
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. march — music
  14. shower — to wash
  15. root — of a plant
  16. face — to point toward
  17. root — the cause
  18. wax — to grow
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. march — the month
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. coach — a trainer

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