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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — a container
  4. spell — letters
  5. row — to paddle
  6. ground — crushed
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. rash — hasty
  9. row — a line
  10. tube — the underground
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. rash — a series
  13. swing — in golf
  14. ground — the earth
  15. spell — a short time
  16. ground — a position
  17. swing — to play on
  18. spell — magic
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mug — a cup
  22. swing — music
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. mug — a face

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