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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. tear — from crying
  3. file — a document
  4. face — to point toward
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. file — a line of people
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. content — happy
  11. tear — to rip
  12. face — part of the head
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — in music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. tear — from crying
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. scale — size or range
  20. file — a tool
  21. face — to confront
  22. rest — what's left
  23. content — the amount
  24. rest — a break

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