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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. spring — a coil
  4. chest — a box
  5. pit — in a race
  6. date — the fruit
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pit — a hole
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. bat — the animal
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. spring — the season
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chest — of your body
  20. tube — the underground
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. tube — a container
  24. plane — a tool

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