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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 120 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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. tube — the underground
  5. ground — a position
  6. bat — the animal
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. ground — crushed
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. scale — in music
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. scale — size or range
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. ground — the earth
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. cell — in biology

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