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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rule — a law
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rule — government
  7. face — to point toward
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bound — obliged
  10. content — the amount
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. season — of the year
  13. drill — the tool
  14. face — part of the head
  15. drill — army training
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bound — certain
  18. face — to confront
  19. season — in sport
  20. bound — tied together
  21. track — a song
  22. drill — a practice
  23. track — a path
  24. track — to keep track

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