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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hide · drill · face · pitcher · tube · stand · clip · rule

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. stand — to bear
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to point toward
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tube — a container
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rule — a law
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. clip — for paper
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. rule — government
  18. clip — a video
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — a practice
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. drill — the tool

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