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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — the amount
  4. object — to protest
  5. capital — a city
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. content — happy
  8. object — an aim
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. object — a thing
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. stock — goods
  14. rule — a law
  15. stock — shares
  16. capital — money
  17. rule — government
  18. face — part of the head
  19. pitch — completely
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. face — to point toward
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — for a hammer

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