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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. net — for catching
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. row — to paddle
  5. pop — to visit
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. key — the most important part
  9. face — to point toward
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. wind — moving air
  14. net — in sport
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. row — a line
  17. face — part of the head
  18. stem — to come from
  19. key — in music
  20. wind — moving air
  21. key — for a lock
  22. pop — music
  23. net — after costs
  24. pop — soda

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