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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: mug · face · hand · rush · cold · spring · foot · fall

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. face — part of the head
  4. mug — a face
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spring — the season
  7. rush — hurry
  8. mug — to rob
  9. hand — help
  10. face — to point toward
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. fall — to drop
  13. spring — of water
  14. foot — a measure
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spring — a coil
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. mug — a cup
  24. fall — the season

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