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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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. rule — to rule out
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bat — the animal
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. face — to point toward
  15. wind — moving air
  16. content — happy
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. rule — a law
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. face — part of the head
  22. rule — government
  23. saw — the tool
  24. content — the amount

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