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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. fine — high quality
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. kick — in football
  14. fine — all right
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. tube — a container
  18. band — a ring
  19. wound — an injury
  20. band — a music group
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bat — for baseball

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