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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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Word bank
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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: content · face · lie · squash · chair · fan · rock · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rock — music
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. rock — a stone
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. face — to confront
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. face — part of the head
  19. squash — the sport
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. lie — to recline
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. squash — to crush

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