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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 116 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. mine — for digging
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. lean — to bend
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — magic
  12. bulb — for light
  13. spell — letters
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. row — to paddle
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. lean — thin
  20. bulb — for light
  21. tube — the underground
  22. bat — the animal
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. tube — a container

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