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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cell — in biology
  3. root — of a word
  4. prune — to trim
  5. mate — a partner
  6. root — of a plant
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a friend
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — a coil
  11. game — wild animals
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cue — a signal
  14. cue — a hint
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. face — part of the head
  17. game — a match
  18. cue — for pool
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. spring — the season
  22. root — the cause
  23. face — to point toward
  24. prune — to trim

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