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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. field — for sport
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. prune — to trim
  7. sharp — clever
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. shower — to wash
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. drill — a practice
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. shower — rain
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. field — a subject
  19. tube — a container
  20. deal — to handle
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — the tool
  23. field — farmland
  24. tube — the underground

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