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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: cell · face · stick · cold · pop · staff · march · squash

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. squash — the sport
  5. march — the month
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. pop — to visit
  8. staff — employees
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. pop — music
  11. march — music
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. face — to confront
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cold — not warm
  17. staff — employees
  18. squash — to crush
  19. march — the month
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. face — to point toward
  22. staff — a stick
  23. pop — soda
  24. cell — in biology

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