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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. tube — a container
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. last — to go on
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. row — to paddle
  8. last — final
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. last — finally
  11. chip — for betting
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bark — to shout
  15. row — a line
  16. tube — the underground
  17. net — after costs
  18. game — a match
  19. chip — to eat
  20. vault — a safe
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. net — in sport
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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