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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. mug — a face
  4. mug — a cup
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. tube — a container
  7. tube — the underground
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. clip — a video
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. clip — for paper
  15. face — to point toward
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. wind — moving air
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. face — part of the head
  20. cold — not warm
  21. clip — to cut
  22. mug — to rob
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wax — in the ear

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