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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bore — to drill
  4. march — the month
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. face — part of the head
  8. land — to come down
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. degree — an amount
  11. march — music
  12. bore — to tire
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. land — a country
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. march — the month
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. land — ground
  19. face — to point toward
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. degree — temperature
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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