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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. craft — boats
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. craft — a skill
  14. rash — a series
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. wake — a trail
  23. tube — a container
  24. bowl — a football final

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