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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. drill — the tool
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cap — of ice
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. spell — letters
  9. fork — in a road
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mate — a friend
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cap — a hat
  14. drill — army training
  15. face — to point toward
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cap — a lid
  18. mate — to breed
  19. drill — a practice
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. mate — a partner
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — magic
  24. cold — not warm

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