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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. can — a tin
  3. row — a line
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. pop — music
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — a tool
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. cold — an illness
  15. row — to paddle
  16. can — to be able to
  17. scale — in music
  18. pop — soda
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. scale — size or range
  22. pop — to visit
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. row — a quarrel

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