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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: face · land · mate · cold · rash · mug · bark · spring

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. land — ground
  5. face — to confront
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. rash — hasty
  10. mate — a friend
  11. land — a country
  12. mug — to rob
  13. mate — a partner
  14. face — to point toward
  15. spring — a coil
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. mug — a cup
  18. bark — to shout
  19. mug — a face
  20. cold — an illness
  21. land — to come down
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. face — part of the head

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