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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. tube — the underground
  3. net — for catching
  4. ball — a dance
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. lean — to bend
  7. pop — music
  8. scale — size or range
  9. pop — soda
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. ball — a great time
  15. tube — a container
  16. scale — in music
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. wound — an injury
  19. net — after costs
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. pop — to visit
  22. lean — thin
  23. net — in sport
  24. ball — a round shape

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