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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 116 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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. ground — a position
  3. face — part of the head
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. ground — the earth
  6. root — of a word
  7. face — to point toward
  8. scale — size or range
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — help
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — in music
  14. cell — a phone
  15. face — to confront
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. ground — crushed
  18. root — of a plant
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. root — the cause
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. content — the amount
  24. cell — in biology

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