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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 116 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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. scale — in music
  7. face — part of the head
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. spring — a coil
  11. pound — a weight
  12. spring — the season
  13. bear — the animal
  14. spring — of water
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. kick — in football
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. bear — the animal
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. mine — for digging

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