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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. fall — the season
  3. fall — to drop
  4. face — to confront
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. bear — the animal
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — rain
  11. bear — the animal
  12. cue — a signal
  13. content — the amount
  14. field — a subject
  15. scale — in music
  16. content — happy
  17. field — farmland
  18. face — to point toward
  19. scale — size or range
  20. fall — to drop
  21. shower — to wash
  22. field — for sport
  23. face — part of the head
  24. cue — for pool

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