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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — the underground
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. drill — the tool
  8. ball — a dance
  9. hand — help
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. tube — a container
  15. drill — army training
  16. ball — a great time
  17. drill — a practice
  18. chair — a leader

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