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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. face — part of the head
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. last — final
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. face — to confront
  14. last — finally
  15. content — happy
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. present — the time now
  18. bass — low music
  19. face — to point toward
  20. present — a gift
  21. cold — an illness
  22. present — there
  23. tube — the underground
  24. content — the amount

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