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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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. face — part of the head
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. deal — to handle
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — the animal
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. court — of law
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — for sport
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cell — a phone
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cell — in biology
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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