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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 116 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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the sport
  4. row — a line
  5. game — a match
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. perch — the fish
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. row — to paddle
  13. game — wild animals
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. tube — the underground
  17. band — a ring
  18. squash — the vegetable

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