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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. content — happy
  4. swing — to play on
  5. present — a gift
  6. charge — a price
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. charge — in control
  9. game — wild animals
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. swing — in golf
  12. game — a match
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. present — the time now
  15. capital — money
  16. face — to point toward
  17. capital — a city
  18. swing — music
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. present — there
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. face — part of the head
  23. charge — electricity
  24. content — the amount

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