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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: present · face · date · cell · straw · court · content · club

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. content — happy
  5. face — to confront
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. date — the fruit
  8. present — there
  9. club — a group
  10. content — the amount
  11. present — the time now
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. face — to point toward
  15. club — for golf
  16. club — for dancing
  17. court — of a king
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. court — for sport
  20. cell — a phone
  21. court — of law
  22. present — a gift
  23. face — part of the head
  24. date — on the calendar

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