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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. tube — the underground
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — to crush
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. drill — a practice
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. wax — to grow
  15. tube — a container
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. drill — the tool
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. file — a line of people
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. drill — army training
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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