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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. row — a line
  3. bat — the animal
  4. key — in music
  5. tube — the underground
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. face — to point toward
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. face — part of the head
  10. row — to paddle
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. face — to confront
  13. wind — moving air
  14. saw — the tool
  15. key — the most important part
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. tube — a container
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. key — for a lock

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