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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: coach · march · content · toast · mouse · chest · face · stick

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. face — part of the head
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. march — the month
  7. content — happy
  8. toast — bread
  9. content — the amount
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. chest — of your body
  12. march — the month
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. chest — of your body
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. chest — a box
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. march — music
  24. face — to point toward

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