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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. content — happy
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. chest — of your body
  5. race — a contest
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. bank — for money
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bank — for money
  11. face — to point toward
  12. chest — a box
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. bound — certain
  15. race — humankind
  16. bank — of a river
  17. content — the amount
  18. bound — tied together
  19. chest — of your body
  20. rush — hurry
  21. bound — obliged
  22. band — a music group
  23. face — part of the head
  24. race — the arms race

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