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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — low music
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. stock — goods
  8. press — a publisher
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. tube — the underground
  12. game — wild animals
  13. press — newspapers
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. game — a match
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. stock — shares
  20. row — a line
  21. press — to push
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. row — to paddle

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