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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. file — a line of people
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. fork — in a road
  9. file — a document
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. file — a tool
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. content — happy
  14. scale — size or range
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. lie — to recline
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — in music
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. wind — moving air
  24. content — the amount

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