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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. scale — in music
  5. bat — the animal
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. ball — a dance
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bank — for money
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. bank — of a river
  12. bank — for money
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cold — an illness
  15. scale — size or range
  16. face — part of the head
  17. ball — a great time
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. content — happy
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. face — to confront
  24. face — to point toward

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