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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. track — a path
  9. pit — in a race
  10. last — finally
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. spell — magic
  13. last — final
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pit — a hole
  16. perch — the fish
  17. spell — a short time
  18. track — a song
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. track — to keep track
  23. spell — letters
  24. last — to go on

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