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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 116 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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. face — to confront
  3. plane — a tool
  4. land — to come down
  5. tube — the underground
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. land — ground
  8. rest — a break
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. band — a ring
  11. tube — a container
  12. can — a tin
  13. file — a line of people
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. rest — what's left
  16. face — to point toward
  17. file — a tool
  18. land — a country
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. face — part of the head
  21. can — a tin
  22. file — a document
  23. rest — what's left
  24. band — a music group

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