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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 116 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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. track — a song
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bear — the animal
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. face — part of the head
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. track — a path
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. face — to point toward
  16. can — a tin
  17. snap — to click
  18. can — a tin
  19. track — to keep track
  20. bear — the animal
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. can — to be able to
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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