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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: present · current · pit · cold · wound · bear · face · date

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. cold — an illness
  4. current — electric
  5. wound — an injury
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bear — the animal
  8. pit — a hole
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — not warm
  11. current — happening now
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. present — a gift
  15. date — the fruit
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. face — to point toward
  18. current — of water
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. present — there
  22. pit — in a race
  23. present — the time now
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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