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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. rash — hasty
  3. face — to point toward
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. track — to keep track
  9. march — the month
  10. rash — a series
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. cold — not warm
  15. track — a song
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. face — to confront
  18. fall — to drop
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. track — a path
  22. face — part of the head
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. fall — the season

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