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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 120 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. tear — to rip
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. file — a line of people
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. current — electric
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ground — crushed
  10. face — part of the head
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. stock — goods
  13. current — of water
  14. stock — shares
  15. mine — for digging
  16. ground — the earth
  17. tear — from crying
  18. file — a document
  19. ground — a position
  20. current — happening now
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. face — to point toward
  23. file — a tool
  24. coach — a trainer

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