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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. capital — money
  4. tube — a container
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. capital — a city
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wax — to grow
  19. tube — the underground
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bat — the animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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