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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. spell — a short time
  3. deal — to handle
  4. roll — a cake
  5. fork — in a road
  6. spell — letters
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. pound — a weight
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. face — part of the head
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. spell — magic
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. mate — to breed
  17. face — to point toward
  18. roll — a list
  19. mate — a partner
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. mate — a friend

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