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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 124 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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. dip — to sink
  4. face — to point toward
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wax — to grow
  8. board — to get on
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — a practice
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. board — a committee
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. face — part of the head
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. drill — the tool
  21. spring — a coil
  22. tube — a container
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — in a tire

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