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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mate — a partner
  3. bound — obliged
  4. stem — to come from
  5. face — part of the head
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bound — certain
  8. court — of a king
  9. mate — to breed
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a line
  12. cold — an illness
  13. court — for sport
  14. bound — tied together
  15. face — to point toward
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. mate — a friend
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. cold — not warm
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. court — of law

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