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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 116 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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — the underground
  3. spring — a coil
  4. row — to paddle
  5. last — final
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. spring — the season
  11. cell — in biology
  12. face — part of the head
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — to confront
  17. row — a line
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cell — a phone
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. pound — a weight
  24. spring — of water

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