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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. date — the fruit
  3. pitch — completely
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. game — a match
  6. tear — to rip
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. face — part of the head
  9. last — final
  10. wound — an injury
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. last — to go on
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. wound — an injury
  20. tear — from crying
  21. last — finally
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — wild animals
  24. coach — a trainer

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