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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. cap — a hat
  4. field — for sport
  5. cap — of ice
  6. staff — a stick
  7. lean — thin
  8. cap — a lid
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. wind — moving air
  11. face — to point toward
  12. staff — employees
  13. staff — employees
  14. content — the amount
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. field — farmland
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. face — part of the head
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. lean — to bend
  22. face — to confront
  23. field — a subject
  24. wind — moving air

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