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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. file — a document
  4. march — the month
  5. bulb — for light
  6. file — a line of people
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. face — part of the head
  10. stock — goods
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — a container
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. march — music
  17. face — to point toward
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stock — shares
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a tool
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bulb — for light

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