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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pit — in a race
  3. staff — employees
  4. present — the time now
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. field — farmland
  8. staff — employees
  9. pit — a hole
  10. present — there
  11. mug — to rob
  12. field — for sport
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. mug — a face
  16. face — part of the head
  17. field — a subject
  18. face — to point toward
  19. mug — a cup
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. present — a gift
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. staff — a stick

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