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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. staff — a stick
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. bore — to tire
  5. cold — not warm
  6. staff — employees
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. face — part of the head
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — to drop
  11. staff — employees
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. last — to go on
  14. fork — in a road
  15. snap — to click
  16. last — finally
  17. face — to point toward
  18. fall — the season
  19. last — final
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bore — to drill

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