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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bear — the animal
  3. content — happy
  4. face — to confront
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — a trace
  11. chip — for betting
  12. date — the fruit
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bear — the animal
  15. face — part of the head
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. face — to point toward
  19. chip — to eat
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. clip — a video
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. mine — for digging

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