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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. content — the amount
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. board — a committee
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tube — the underground
  7. board — to get on
  8. rock — music
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — for digging
  11. rock — a stone
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a document
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. content — happy
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. game — a match
  19. file — a tool
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. present — the time now
  22. tube — a container
  23. present — a gift
  24. present — there

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