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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pop — to visit
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bound — certain
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. pop — soda
  12. bound — obliged
  13. face — part of the head
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. bound — tied together
  16. last — final
  17. stem — to come from
  18. lie — to recline
  19. cold — an illness
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pop — music

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