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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. squash — to crush
  3. wax — to grow
  4. spell — letters
  5. mate — a partner
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. face — part of the head
  8. pound — a weight
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. rule — government
  11. face — to point toward
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. branch — a division
  16. spell — a short time
  17. mate — a friend
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. rule — a law
  20. squash — the sport
  21. mate — to breed
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. spell — magic
  24. branch — of a bank

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