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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. tube — a container
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bulb — for light
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bulb — for light
  9. tube — the underground
  10. ball — a great time
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. row — a line
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. row — to paddle

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