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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. hand — help
  3. face — part of the head
  4. spring — a coil
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mate — to breed
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. spring — of water
  10. bound — obliged
  11. root — the cause
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. root — of a word
  14. mate — a partner
  15. bound — tied together
  16. spring — the season
  17. face — to point toward
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. mate — a friend
  20. root — of a plant
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bound — certain

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