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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: face · coach · lie · row · race · pound · tear · ball

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. race — the arms race
  3. tear — to rip
  4. face — part of the head
  5. lie — to recline
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. row — a line
  9. ball — a great time
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. ball — a dance
  15. row — to paddle
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. pound — a weight
  19. face — to point toward
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — a contest
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. ball — a round shape

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