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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. face — to point toward
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. row — to paddle
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. cold — an illness
  17. row — a line
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. face — part of the head
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. mate — a friend
  23. mate — a partner
  24. mouse — for a computer

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