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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. ball — a great time
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. bat — the animal
  8. firm — decided
  9. firm — steady
  10. firm — a company
  11. file — a document
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — a container
  15. rush — hurry
  16. season — in sport
  17. file — a tool
  18. ball — a dance
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. file — a line of people
  22. season — of the year
  23. game — a match
  24. bat — in an idiom

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