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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. club — a group
  3. spring — of water
  4. face — to confront
  5. content — the amount
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. spring — a coil
  9. face — part of the head
  10. land — ground
  11. land — to come down
  12. tube — the underground
  13. club — for golf
  14. file — a line of people
  15. prune — to trim
  16. club — for dancing
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. land — a country
  19. tube — a container
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a document
  22. face — to point toward
  23. content — happy
  24. tube — in a tire

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