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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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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: bear · clip · last · mate · lean · face · row · pop

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pop — music
  5. bear — the animal
  6. face — to confront
  7. clip — a video
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. last — to go on
  10. mate — a friend
  11. pop — soda
  12. row — a line
  13. face — part of the head
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. mate — to breed
  16. lean — thin
  17. clip — to cut
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bear — the animal
  20. lean — to bend
  21. last — finally
  22. face — to point toward
  23. mate — a partner
  24. bear — to put up with

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