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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. content — happy
  3. craft — a skill
  4. row — a line
  5. toast — bread
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. tube — a container
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. face — to confront
  12. craft — boats
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. tube — the underground
  16. content — the amount
  17. fork — in a road
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. face — part of the head
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. row — to paddle

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