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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. scale — size or range
  4. chest — of your body
  5. scale — in music
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. branch — a division
  10. drill — a practice
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. tube — a container
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. drill — the tool
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. bat — the animal
  21. tube — the underground
  22. drill — army training
  23. chest — a box
  24. scale — for weighing

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