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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 116 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: wound · hand · rule · object · face · craft · trunk · spring

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. rule — government
  3. hand — help
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. face — part of the head
  6. wound — an injury
  7. object — to protest
  8. object — a thing
  9. craft — boats
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. object — an aim
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. spring — the season
  14. face — to point toward
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. craft — a skill
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rule — a law
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. hand — in cards
  24. spring — of water

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