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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mug — a cup
  4. wake — a trail
  5. content — the amount
  6. face — to point toward
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. band — a music group
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. deal — to handle
  11. content — happy
  12. kid — to tease
  13. file — a line of people
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. band — a ring
  16. mug — a face
  17. kid — child
  18. mug — to rob
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. file — a document
  21. face — to confront
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. file — a tool
  24. face — part of the head

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