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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. file — a line of people
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. march — the month
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. file — a tool
  7. squash — the sport
  8. root — the cause
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cold — an illness
  13. kick — in football
  14. face — part of the head
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. march — the month
  18. squash — to crush
  19. face — to point toward
  20. march — music
  21. cold — not warm
  22. root — of a word
  23. file — a document
  24. root — of a plant

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