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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kick · face · spring · march · cold · tear

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. march — the month
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kick — in football
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spring — a coil
  7. tear — to rip
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — of water
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. face — part of the head
  13. spring — the season
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. face — to confront
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — an illness
  18. march — music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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