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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. court — of law
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. key — for a lock
  6. key — in music
  7. staff — a stick
  8. face — to confront
  9. content — happy
  10. lean — to bend
  11. key — the most important part
  12. court — of a king
  13. lean — thin
  14. season — in sport
  15. staff — employees
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. season — of the year
  21. shower — to wash
  22. court — for sport
  23. staff — employees
  24. face — to point toward

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