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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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. vault — a safe
  4. pop — music
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. face — to point toward
  7. fall — to drop
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pop — to visit
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. current — of water
  19. pop — soda
  20. face — part of the head
  21. current — happening now
  22. current — electric
  23. fall — the season
  24. bat — the animal

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