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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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Word bank
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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. face — to point toward
  3. mate — a partner
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chip — for betting
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. chip — to eat
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. content — happy
  11. cold — an illness
  12. content — the amount
  13. face — part of the head
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. cold — not warm
  20. kid — child
  21. mate — a friend
  22. kid — to tease
  23. face — to confront
  24. branch — a division

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