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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. clip — for paper
  3. face — to point toward
  4. drill — the tool
  5. face — part of the head
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. kick — in football
  10. clip — to cut
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. drill — army training
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. cold — not warm
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. clip — a video
  20. deal — to handle
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. drill — a practice
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. cold — an illness

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