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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wind — moving air
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. spell — a short time
  6. content — happy
  7. cold — an illness
  8. spring — the season
  9. content — the amount
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. spring — of water
  12. deal — to handle
  13. spell — magic
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. face — to point toward
  17. face — to confront
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. spell — letters
  24. deal — a big deal

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