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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. last — to go on
  3. bound — tied together
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. board — to get on
  6. bound — obliged
  7. clip — to cut
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. face — part of the head
  11. last — finally
  12. vault — a safe
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bat — the animal
  16. face — to point toward
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. clip — for paper
  19. last — final
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. board — a committee
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bound — certain
  24. clip — a video

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