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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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468
Word bank
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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pop — music
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. content — happy
  8. bore — to tire
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — the underground
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. cold — an illness
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. pop — soda
  21. pop — to visit
  22. content — the amount
  23. tube — a container
  24. content — videos and posts

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