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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. spell — magic
  4. row — a line
  5. row — to paddle
  6. content — happy
  7. bat — the animal
  8. root — the cause
  9. content — the amount
  10. chip — to eat
  11. spell — a short time
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. root — of a word
  17. chip — for betting
  18. root — of a plant
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — part of the head
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. spell — letters
  24. chip — in a computer

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