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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. face — to confront
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. pop — music
  5. tube — a container
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. face — part of the head
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. file — a document
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. degree — temperature
  14. tube — the underground
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. pop — to visit
  17. file — a tool
  18. face — to point toward
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. pop — soda
  24. wave — of the sea

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