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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. face — part of the head
  3. root — of a word
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. season — in sport
  6. pop — to visit
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — to confront
  9. pop — soda
  10. content — the amount
  11. root — the cause
  12. track — to keep track
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. row — a line
  16. file — a document
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. root — of a plant
  19. track — a path
  20. row — to paddle
  21. track — a song
  22. season — of the year
  23. file — a tool
  24. pop — music

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