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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. land — to come down
  4. spring — the season
  5. face — to point toward
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. land — a country
  9. land — ground
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. spring — of water
  12. cold — an illness
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. spring — a coil
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. content — the amount
  17. cold — not warm
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. face — part of the head
  20. fine — all right
  21. face — to confront
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. fine — high quality
  24. lie — to recline

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