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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. face — to confront
  3. mug — a cup
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. land — ground
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. face — part of the head
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. bark — to shout
  13. band — a music group
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. land — a country
  16. mug — to rob
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool
  19. land — to come down
  20. mug — a face
  21. band — a ring
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. content — happy

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