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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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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: trunk · content · last · lean · hand · face · cap · rule

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cap — of ice
  7. last — finally
  8. face — part of the head
  9. last — to go on
  10. content — happy
  11. face — to point toward
  12. last — final
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. lean — thin
  15. hand — help
  16. content — the amount
  17. cap — a hat
  18. hand — in cards
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — a law
  21. cap — a lid
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. rule — government

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