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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 116 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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rush — hurry
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — to paddle
  6. can — a tin
  7. tube — a container
  8. can — to be able to
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. wind — moving air
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. spell — a short time
  13. row — a line
  14. spell — letters
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tube — the underground
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. spell — magic
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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