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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. game — a match
  3. spring — a coil
  4. craft — a skill
  5. fall — the season
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. tube — the underground
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. can — a tin
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. game — wild animals
  13. spring — of water
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cold — an illness
  16. craft — boats
  17. can — to be able to
  18. spring — the season
  19. can — a tin
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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