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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 120 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. band — a ring
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — the underground
  5. bound — obliged
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pit — a hole
  8. file — a document
  9. face — to point toward
  10. file — a tool
  11. bound — certain
  12. band — a music group
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a great time
  16. race — humankind
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. face — part of the head
  19. race — a contest
  20. pit — in a race
  21. tube — a container
  22. file — a line of people
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bound — tied together

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