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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pop — music
  4. degree — an amount
  5. can — a tin
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. pop — to visit
  8. mine — for digging
  9. face — to point toward
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. file — a document
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. face — to confront
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. file — a tool
  17. degree — temperature
  18. can — a tin
  19. degree — from a university
  20. rash — a series
  21. face — part of the head
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. can — to be able to

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