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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: content · row · racket · date · face · coach · wind · last

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wind — moving air
  3. last — to go on
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. date — the fruit
  6. wind — moving air
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. face — part of the head
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. content — happy
  12. face — to confront
  13. content — the amount
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. last — finally
  20. face — to point toward
  21. last — final
  22. row — a line
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. row — to paddle

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