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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cold — an illness
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. cold — not warm
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. branch — a division
  8. hand — in cards
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. present — a gift
  11. row — to paddle
  12. row — a line
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. present — there
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. hand — help
  19. present — the time now
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. deal — to handle
  23. face — part of the head
  24. face — to point toward

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