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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. rush — hurry
  7. vault — a safe
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. race — the arms race
  10. spell — a short time
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. spell — magic
  13. tube — the underground
  14. bat — the animal
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — a contest
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. spell — letters
  20. season — in sport
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. season — of the year
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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