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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. shower — to wash
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. band — a ring
  6. tube — a container
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. file — a tool
  10. band — a music group
  11. shower — rain
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. tube — the underground
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. roll — a list
  17. deal — to handle
  18. file — a line of people
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. roll — a cake
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. file — a document
  24. tube — in a tire

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