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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 116 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. face — to point toward
  3. content — happy
  4. hand — help
  5. drill — the tool
  6. hand — in cards
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. drill — a practice
  10. pop — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. face — part of the head
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. file — a document
  16. face — to confront
  17. craft — a skill
  18. drill — army training
  19. pop — soda
  20. file — a tool
  21. content — the amount
  22. file — a line of people
  23. craft — boats
  24. patient — a sick person

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