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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — the underground
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — a practice
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. cell — a phone
  7. scale — size or range
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cell — in biology
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pop — music
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. fall — the season
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pop — soda
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fall — to drop
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pop — to visit
  22. drill — army training
  23. row — a line
  24. row — a quarrel

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