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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. spring — of water
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. wind — moving air
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. spring — the season
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. spring — a coil
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. bass — the fish
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bass — low music
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — a break
  24. tube — a container

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