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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. tube — a container
  6. file — a line of people
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. file — a document
  11. scale — size or range
  12. face — part of the head
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. face — to confront
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wound — an injury
  20. scale — in music
  21. file — a tool
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. face — to point toward
  24. tube — the underground

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