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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. hand — help
  5. face — to point toward
  6. track — a song
  7. root — the cause
  8. root — of a word
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. drill — army training
  11. track — to keep track
  12. root — of a plant
  13. last — finally
  14. drill — the tool
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chest — a box
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. last — final
  20. hand — in cards
  21. last — to go on
  22. track — a path
  23. face — part of the head
  24. drill — a practice

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