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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  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. rash — a series
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — in music
  5. face — part of the head
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. last — final
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. tear — from crying
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. stem — to come from
  14. swing — music
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. last — to go on
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. rash — hasty
  22. prune — to trim
  23. last — finally
  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