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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. tear — from crying
  6. face — to confront
  7. tear — to rip
  8. net — after costs
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — happy
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. net — in sport
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. tear — from crying
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. toast — bread
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — part of the head
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. stem — to come from
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. net — for catching

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