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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. bat — the animal
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. tube — a container
  19. pass — a permit
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. bulb — for light

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