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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. court — of a king
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — happy
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. pitch — completely
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. face — part of the head
  16. court — for sport
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. roll — a list
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. hand — help
  21. roll — a cake
  22. face — to point toward
  23. court — of law
  24. hand — in cards

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