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

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. face — to confront
  3. file — a tool
  4. chip — for betting
  5. plane — a tool
  6. net — after costs
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. net — in sport
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. kid — to tease
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. net — for catching
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. chip — to eat
  21. file — a line of people
  22. face — to point toward
  23. pound — a weight
  24. file — a document

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