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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. hand — in cards
  4. cue — for pool
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — of water
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. tube — a container
  9. spring — the season
  10. cue — a signal
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. capital — a city
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. hand — help
  16. cue — a hint
  17. capital — money
  18. net — after costs
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — in sport
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bowl — a dish

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