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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. row — a line
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. saw — the tool
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. file — a tool
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. spell — letters
  9. tube — the underground
  10. ball — a dance
  11. row — to paddle
  12. ball — a great time
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. file — a line of people
  20. saw — the tool
  21. file — a document
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. wake — a trail

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