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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. pop — to visit
  3. face — to confront
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. roll — a cake
  6. pop — soda
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — part of the head
  9. content — the amount
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. file — a tool
  12. race — the arms race
  13. ball — a great time
  14. pop — music
  15. race — a contest
  16. file — a document
  17. content — happy
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. file — a line of people
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. race — humankind
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. roll — a list

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