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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. land — ground
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. net — after costs
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — a country
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. face — to point toward
  9. face — to confront
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. tube — the underground
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — goods
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. stock — shares
  16. face — part of the head
  17. tube — a container
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to tire
  21. net — for catching
  22. rock — a stone
  23. bore — to drill
  24. net — in sport

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