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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. mug — to rob
  3. pit — a hole
  4. cell — in biology
  5. mug — a cup
  6. mug — a face
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cold — not warm
  11. shower — rain
  12. roll — a list
  13. cell — a phone
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. roll — a cake
  16. ball — a great time
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. pit — in a race
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. ball — a dance
  22. tube — the underground
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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