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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. net — after costs
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pop — to visit
  5. last — final
  6. last — finally
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. net — for catching
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. drill — a practice
  13. chest — a box
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. drill — army training
  16. last — to go on
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. net — in sport
  19. chest — of your body
  20. kid — child
  21. pop — soda
  22. chest — of your body
  23. drill — the tool
  24. tube — a container

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