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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. roll — a cake
  3. sharp — clever
  4. face — part of the head
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. face — to point toward
  7. face — to confront
  8. content — the amount
  9. cap — a lid
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. content — happy
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cold — an illness
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. mate — to breed
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mate — a partner
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cap — of ice
  23. mate — a friend
  24. roll — a list

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