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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. shower — to wash
  4. tube — the underground
  5. squash — the sport
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. staff — employees
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. squash — to crush
  11. tube — a container
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. shower — rain
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bat — the animal
  18. track — to keep track
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. track — a path
  22. track — a song
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. squash — the vegetable

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