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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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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: mine · straw · face · stick · fork · root · rule · hide

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. rule — a law
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. rule — government
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. face — to point toward
  9. mine — for digging
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. face — part of the head
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — of a word
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. root — the cause
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. fork — in a road
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. hide — animal skin

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