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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 116 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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. field — a subject
  4. present — there
  5. lean — to bend
  6. field — farmland
  7. rule — government
  8. face — to confront
  9. lean — thin
  10. lie — to recline
  11. face — to point toward
  12. present — a gift
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. shower — rain
  15. face — part of the head
  16. rule — a law
  17. present — the time now
  18. shower — to wash
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. field — for sport
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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