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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. wound — an injury
  3. swing — music
  4. content — the amount
  5. fall — to drop
  6. face — to point toward
  7. face — to confront
  8. swing — in golf
  9. press — to push
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. fall — the season
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. fall — to drop
  15. kid — child
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. press — a publisher
  18. wound — an injury
  19. swing — to play on
  20. press — newspapers
  21. band — a music group
  22. content — happy
  23. band — a ring
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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