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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. sharp — clever
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. chair — a leader
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. face — to point toward
  13. face — part of the head
  14. shower — rain
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — happy
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. perch — the fish
  21. shower — to wash
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. fan — to cool the air

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