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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. last — final
  3. present — there
  4. shower — to wash
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. present — the time now
  7. land — ground
  8. face — to point toward
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. land — a country
  12. land — to come down
  13. track — a path
  14. shower — rain
  15. face — part of the head
  16. present — a gift
  17. clip — to cut
  18. last — finally
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. track — a song
  22. last — to go on
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. track — to keep track

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