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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to confront
  5. dip — to sink
  6. content — the amount
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. content — happy
  12. race — humankind
  13. squash — the sport
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rule — a law
  16. squash — to crush
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. shower — to wash
  23. race — the arms race
  24. rule — government

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