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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 120 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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. face — to point toward
  6. bound — tied together
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — happy
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. bound — certain
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. cold — an illness
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. bound — obliged
  20. bulb — for light
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. rule — government
  23. cold — not warm
  24. hide — animal skin

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