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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 116 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. content — the amount
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. land — to come down
  6. rash — a series
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — happy
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. face — part of the head
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — clever
  19. face — to point toward
  20. land — a country
  21. face — to confront
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. pitch — completely
  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