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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.

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

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. tear — to rip
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. content — happy
  5. land — to come down
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. land — a country
  8. tear — from crying
  9. land — ground
  10. content — the amount
  11. file — a document
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tear — from crying
  15. scale — size or range
  16. file — a line of people
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — in music
  20. fall — to drop
  21. plane — a tool
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. file — a tool

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