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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bass — low music
  3. sharp — clever
  4. face — to point toward
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. spell — a short time
  7. face — part of the head
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. bat — the animal
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. rule — government
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — letters
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bass — the fish
  18. snap — to click
  19. rule — a law
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bass — the instrument

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