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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: ruler · wind · face · mug · last · court · content · straw

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. court — of a king
  3. content — happy
  4. last — finally
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. mug — a cup
  7. mug — a face
  8. court — of law
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. mug — to rob
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — the amount
  14. face — part of the head
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. last — to go on
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. court — for sport
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. last — final
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. face — to point toward

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