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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 124 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — a container
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. ground — crushed
  6. stock — goods
  7. snap — to click
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. vault — a safe
  10. spring — the season
  11. kid — to tease
  12. spring — of water
  13. ground — a position
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — shares
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. bat — the animal
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. kid — child
  24. ground — the earth

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