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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — music
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. tube — the underground
  11. swing — to play on
  12. drill — the tool
  13. march — the month
  14. land — to come down
  15. drill — a practice
  16. march — music
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. march — the month
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. drill — army training
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. spring — a coil

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