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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. tube — the underground
  3. toast — bread
  4. content — happy
  5. file — a line of people
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. face — part of the head
  9. lie — to recline
  10. degree — an amount
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. tube — a container
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. degree — from a university
  15. face — to confront
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. club — a group
  19. content — the amount
  20. file — a tool
  21. face — to point toward
  22. file — a document
  23. club — for dancing
  24. degree — temperature

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