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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. spring — of water
  3. tube — a container
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. object — to protest
  6. fork — in a road
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. key — in music
  10. key — the most important part
  11. object — an aim
  12. stock — goods
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. spring — the season
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. spring — a coil
  18. key — for a lock
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. object — a thing
  23. stock — shares
  24. bat — the animal

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