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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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. face — part of the head
  6. spring — a coil
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. face — to point toward
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. degree — an amount
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. stem — to come from
  15. ground — a position
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. spring — the season
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spring — of water

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