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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 120 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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. tube — a container
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. court — of law
  8. chest — of your body
  9. squash — to crush
  10. chest — of your body
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. court — for sport
  14. spring — of water
  15. chest — a box
  16. tube — the underground
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. file — a tool
  20. court — of a king
  21. file — a document
  22. squash — the sport
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. file — a line of people

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