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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. face — part of the head
  5. face — to point toward
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. file — a document
  16. fork — in a road
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — to come from
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cap — a lid
  21. dip — to sink
  22. cap — of ice
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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