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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: foot · content · cell · face · land · firm · date · tear

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. content — happy
  3. firm — decided
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. face — part of the head
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cell — in biology
  8. land — a country
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. face — to point toward
  12. foot — a measure
  13. land — ground
  14. firm — steady
  15. land — to come down
  16. tear — from crying
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. face — to confront
  20. firm — a company
  21. content — the amount
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cell — a phone

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