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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. face — to point toward
  4. tube — a container
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. face — part of the head
  13. mine — for digging
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. face — to confront
  18. fan — a supporter

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