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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. fall — to drop
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. tube — the underground
  9. fall — the season
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. root — the cause
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cap — a hat
  16. root — of a word
  17. tube — a container
  18. last — finally
  19. cap — a lid
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. face — part of the head
  22. cap — of ice
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. root — of a plant

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