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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. content — happy
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. kick — in football
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. lie — to recline
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. content — the amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. degree — an amount
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. face — to point toward
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. face — to confront
  23. degree — temperature
  24. face — part of the head

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