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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. face — to confront
  3. content — happy
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. present — a gift
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. present — there
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. content — the amount
  13. last — finally
  14. branch — a division
  15. hand — in cards
  16. face — part of the head
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. face — to point toward
  20. court — of law
  21. present — the time now
  22. hand — help
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. last — to go on

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