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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: tear · face · lie · season · cold · content · mug · stock

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  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. season — of the year
  2. content — happy
  3. lie — to recline
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mug — a cup
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. face — to point toward
  11. mug — a face
  12. face — to confront
  13. content — the amount
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — not warm
  17. season — in sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. mug — to rob
  21. stock — shares
  22. tear — from crying
  23. stock — goods
  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