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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 124 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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. pop — music
  5. scale — size or range
  6. drill — a practice
  7. present — there
  8. pop — soda
  9. pop — to visit
  10. game — wild animals
  11. drill — army training
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. scale — in music
  15. game — a match
  16. chest — a box
  17. drill — the tool
  18. pit — a hole
  19. chest — of your body
  20. tube — the underground
  21. present — the time now
  22. present — a gift
  23. pit — in a race
  24. chest — of your body

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