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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. swing — to play on
  4. scale — in music
  5. hand — help
  6. swing — music
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a friend
  9. scale — size or range
  10. roll — a list
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. game — wild animals
  14. hand — in cards
  15. swing — in golf
  16. tube — the underground
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. game — a match
  19. mate — a partner
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — the tool
  22. tube — a container
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. hand — part of the body

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