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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · dip · content · lean · tube · cabinet · face · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. row — a line
  5. face — to confront
  6. wind — moving air
  7. lean — to bend
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. content — happy
  10. tube — the underground
  11. content — the amount
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. tube — a container
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — thin
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. wind — moving air
  20. face — to point toward
  21. face — part of the head
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. dip — to sink

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