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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. face — to confront
  3. club — for dancing
  4. club — a group
  5. tube — a container
  6. face — to point toward
  7. club — for golf
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. degree — from a university
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. face — part of the head
  12. prune — to trim
  13. ball — a great time
  14. content — the amount
  15. tube — the underground
  16. stand — to bear
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ball — a dance
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. prune — to trim
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. stand — on your feet

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