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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. shower — rain
  3. sharp — clever
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. face — to point toward
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. key — in music
  8. shower — to wash
  9. file — a tool
  10. key — the most important part
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stock — goods
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. face — part of the head
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. key — for a lock
  17. tube — the underground
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. tube — a container
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. stock — shares
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a ring

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