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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. wind — moving air
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. tube — a container
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bat — the animal
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. last — final
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. mark — a grade
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. shower — rain
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — finally
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. mark — a trace
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. fine — a penalty

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