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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. wound — an injury
  5. face — to point toward
  6. last — finally
  7. pound — a weight
  8. last — to go on
  9. last — final
  10. wound — an injury
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. perch — the fish
  18. club — a group
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. chair — a leader
  21. club — for golf
  22. face — part of the head
  23. club — for dancing
  24. chair — to sit on

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