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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. scale — in music
  3. present — there
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. content — the amount
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tube — a container
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cold — not warm
  12. snap — to click
  13. present — the time now
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. band — a ring
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. band — a music group
  18. present — a gift
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. tube — the underground
  21. content — happy
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. wake — a trail
  24. scale — for weighing

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