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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. deal — to handle
  3. cold — an illness
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. spell — letters
  8. rash — hasty
  9. wax — to grow
  10. pass — a permit
  11. face — part of the head
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. face — to point toward
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spell — magic
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rash — a series
  21. wind — moving air
  22. spell — a short time
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. deal — a big deal

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