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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  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. content — happy
  2. race — humankind
  3. key — for a lock
  4. tear — to rip
  5. stock — shares
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to point toward
  11. suit — in cards
  12. suit — to fit
  13. key — in music
  14. chair — a leader
  15. key — the most important part
  16. race — the arms race
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. suit — clothes
  19. race — a contest
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. face — to confront
  22. tear — from crying
  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