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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a line of people
  4. roll — a cake
  5. shower — to wash
  6. pit — a hole
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. land — to come down
  12. pit — in a race
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. tube — the underground
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. land — ground
  19. file — a document
  20. shower — rain
  21. land — a country
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. patient — a sick person

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