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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. tube — the underground
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. spring — the season
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. spring — of water
  14. track — a path
  15. track — a song
  16. track — to keep track
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to bend
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. spring — a coil
  22. ball — a great time
  23. degree — from a university
  24. pitch — completely

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