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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 120 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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. game — a match
  3. tear — to rip
  4. game — wild animals
  5. tear — from crying
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. shower — to wash
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. rest — what's left
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. face — part of the head
  12. rest — what's left
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. deal — to handle
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. tear — from crying
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. rest — a break
  22. face — to point toward
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. shower — rain

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