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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. wind — moving air
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spring — the season
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. drill — a practice
  7. rock — music
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. drill — the tool
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. spring — a coil
  13. rock — a stone
  14. game — a match
  15. drill — army training
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. roll — a cake
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. roll — a list
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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