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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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. ground — a position
  4. spell — letters
  5. face — to confront
  6. court — for sport
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. face — to point toward
  10. squash — the sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. ground — the earth
  13. spell — magic
  14. squash — to crush
  15. spell — a short time
  16. file — a document
  17. lean — to bend
  18. file — a tool
  19. tube — the underground
  20. file — a line of people
  21. face — part of the head
  22. court — of law
  23. tube — a container
  24. ground — crushed

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