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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 · key · fan · wound · bark · rash · date · bore

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. bark — to shout
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. date — the fruit
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bore — to drill
  9. rash — a series
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. face — to point toward
  14. rash — hasty
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. face — part of the head
  18. key — the most important part
  19. bore — to tire
  20. key — in music
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. key — for a lock
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bark — of a tree

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