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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — to point toward
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. drill — a practice
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bark — to shout
  12. face — part of the head
  13. drill — army training
  14. content — happy
  15. net — in sport
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. cold — an illness
  18. content — the amount
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. stand — to bear
  24. leaves — of a tree

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