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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mug — to rob
  3. face — to point toward
  4. bank — for money
  5. drill — the tool
  6. game — a match
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bank — for money
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. clip — to cut
  11. face — part of the head
  12. game — wild animals
  13. drill — a practice
  14. march — the month
  15. kick — in football
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. mug — a face
  19. bank — of a river
  20. drill — army training
  21. mug — a cup
  22. clip — a video
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kick — with a leg

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