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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: key · face · tear · toast · snap · fork · present · content

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. present — a gift
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. tear — from crying
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. present — there
  9. toast — bread
  10. snap — to click
  11. face — part of the head
  12. key — the most important part
  13. content — happy
  14. key — for a lock
  15. tear — from crying
  16. content — the amount
  17. tear — to rip
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. key — in music
  20. face — to point toward
  21. fork — in a road
  22. present — the time now
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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