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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — the underground
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. swing — to play on
  7. file — a document
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. spring — of water
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. spring — the season
  12. tube — a container
  13. scale — in music
  14. shower — to wash
  15. file — a line of people
  16. shower — rain
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — music
  19. spring — a coil
  20. scale — size or range
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. file — a tool
  23. row — to paddle
  24. scale — for weighing

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