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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. game — a match
  3. rock — music
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. kid — to tease
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. rock — a stone
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. kid — child
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. spell — magic
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. spell — letters
  23. tube — a container
  24. game — wild animals

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