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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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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. press — a publisher
  5. kid — to tease
  6. press — to push
  7. face — to point toward
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. degree — an amount
  10. press — newspapers
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. degree — from a university
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cold — not warm
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. cold — an illness
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. lie — to recline
  21. face — part of the head
  22. kid — child
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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