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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. ground — crushed
  5. rash — a series
  6. file — a line of people
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. prune — to trim
  11. shower — rain
  12. ground — the earth
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. tube — the underground
  16. file — a tool
  17. tube — a container
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. file — a document
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. shower — to wash
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. ground — a position
  24. rash — hasty

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