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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. spring — the season
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. spring — of water
  5. face — to confront
  6. mate — a friend
  7. content — the amount
  8. pound — a weight
  9. spring — a coil
  10. content — happy
  11. mate — to breed
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. drill — a practice
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. snap — to click
  16. file — a line of people
  17. face — part of the head
  18. mate — a partner
  19. face — to point toward
  20. drill — army training
  21. file — a tool
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. file — a document

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