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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: cabinet · cold · face · fall · tear · dip · chest · root

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. chest — a box
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. root — the cause
  12. root — of a word
  13. root — of a plant
  14. chest — of your body
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. face — to point toward
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. face — part of the head
  19. tear — to rip
  20. fall — the season
  21. dip — to sink
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. tear — from crying

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