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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. land — ground
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to point toward
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. game — a match
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. file — a document
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. file — a line of people
  18. content — happy
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. face — to confront
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — a country
  23. game — wild animals
  24. file — a tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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