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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — to point toward
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. face — part of the head
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tube — the underground
  11. current — electric
  12. spring — of water
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. scale — size or range
  15. tube — a container
  16. cold — not warm
  17. current — happening now
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. scale — in music
  20. spring — a coil
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. current — of water
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. spring — the season

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