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

Word bank: trunk · wake · ruler · face · club · cold · mate · roll

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. club — a group
  3. mate — to breed
  4. face — to point toward
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wake — a trail
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. roll — a cake
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. mate — a partner
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. club — for dancing
  22. face — part of the head
  23. club — for golf
  24. roll — a list

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