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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: lie · wake · field · date · pound · face · content · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. content — the amount
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. field — a subject
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. lie — to recline
  7. face — part of the head
  8. tear — from crying
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — to point toward
  11. date — the fruit
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. tear — to rip
  20. pound — a weight
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. wake — a trail
  24. content — happy

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