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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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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. mine — for digging
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. march — the month
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. march — the month
  11. kick — in football
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. wind — moving air
  15. hand — in cards
  16. fork — in a road
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. face — to point toward
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. march — 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