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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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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. content — happy
  8. swing — to play on
  9. bat — the animal
  10. tube — a container
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. swing — music
  13. tube — the underground
  14. content — the amount
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bat — for baseball

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