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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — the amount
  7. face — part of the head
  8. hand — help
  9. face — to point toward
  10. last — to go on
  11. rule — government
  12. hand — in cards
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. last — final
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. rule — a law
  18. last — finally
  19. wind — moving air
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. wind — moving air
  22. content — happy
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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