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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: pitcher · pop · cold · file · rush · content · face · wound

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. file — a line of people
  3. content — the amount
  4. face — part of the head
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. file — a tool
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pop — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wound — an injury
  14. content — happy
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. wound — an injury
  17. file — a document
  18. face — to confront
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. face — to point toward
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. rush — hurry

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