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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — to point toward
  3. date — the fruit
  4. content — the amount
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. face — part of the head
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. band — a ring
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. band — a music group
  11. current — happening now
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. content — happy
  15. chair — a leader
  16. stem — to come from
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. current — electric
  22. current — of water
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. stem — a stem cell

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