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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — for catching
  4. face — part of the head
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cap — of ice
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. net — after costs
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — a division
  18. cap — a lid
  19. swing — music
  20. hand — help
  21. swing — in golf
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. hand — in cards
  24. swing — to play 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