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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 116 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pop — soda
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. lean — to bend
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. content — the amount
  7. mine — for digging
  8. track — a song
  9. track — to keep track
  10. row — a line
  11. track — a path
  12. stem — to come from
  13. pop — music
  14. row — to paddle
  15. face — part of the head
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. content — happy
  18. face — to point toward
  19. lean — thin
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. pop — to visit
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. content — videos and posts

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