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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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468
Word bank
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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. suit — to fit
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. mate — to breed
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. cold — an illness
  9. face — to point toward
  10. court — of law
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. cold — not warm
  13. court — for sport
  14. face — part of the head
  15. suit — clothes
  16. mate — a partner
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. mate — a friend
  20. suit — in cards
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. court — of a king

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