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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 120 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: kid · bore · court · face · press · wind · fall · content

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. face — to confront
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bore — to drill
  6. press — newspapers
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. wind — moving air
  10. press — a publisher
  11. court — of a king
  12. kid — to tease
  13. court — of law
  14. press — to push
  15. court — for sport
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. kid — child
  18. content — happy
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. face — to point toward
  21. bore — to tire
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. face — part of the head

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