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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 124 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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. face — to confront
  3. can — to be able to
  4. content — happy
  5. game — wild animals
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. scale — size or range
  8. band — a ring
  9. can — a tin
  10. last — final
  11. face — to point toward
  12. foot — a measure
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. content — the amount
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. last — to go on
  19. face — part of the head
  20. can — a tin
  21. band — a music group
  22. game — a match
  23. last — finally
  24. scale — in 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