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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. tube — a container
  3. clip — to cut
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. clip — for paper
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. hand — help
  10. cue — a hint
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. foot — a measure
  13. cue — for pool
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. scale — in music
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cue — a signal
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. clip — a video
  20. fork — in a road
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. tube — the underground
  24. hand — in cards

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