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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. net — in sport
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. net — for catching
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. snap — to click
  7. face — to point toward
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. net — after costs
  11. fall — to drop
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. fall — the season
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. face — part of the head
  21. bat — the animal
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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