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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. content — happy
  4. pop — to visit
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. current — electric
  7. field — a subject
  8. pop — music
  9. face — part of the head
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. face — to point toward
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. current — happening now
  17. pop — soda
  18. row — a line
  19. row — to paddle
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. current — of water
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pound — a weight

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