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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. ground — crushed
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. band — a music group
  8. march — the month
  9. ground — a position
  10. deal — to handle
  11. face — part of the head
  12. band — a ring
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. march — the month
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. march — music
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. ground — the earth
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. face — to point toward
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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