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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. hand — help
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — to confront
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. content — happy
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. stock — shares
  16. face — part of the head
  17. hand — in cards
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. chip — for betting
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. content — the amount
  24. stock — goods

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