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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 124 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. content — the amount
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. club — a group
  7. press — a publisher
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. press — to push
  11. content — happy
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bat — the animal
  14. swing — in golf
  15. press — newspapers
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. net — in sport
  19. swing — music
  20. club — for dancing
  21. face — part of the head
  22. club — for golf
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. mouse — for a computer

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