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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 124 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. spring — a coil
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — part of the head
  5. spring — the season
  6. shower — to wash
  7. spring — of water
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bear — the animal
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. bear — the animal
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chip — to eat
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. shower — rain
  24. chip — for betting

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