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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. land — ground
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — part of the head
  11. cell — a phone
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. band — a ring
  16. stand — to bear
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. cell — in biology
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. mine — for digging
  21. land — a country
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. land — to come down

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