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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. tube — a container
  3. bass — the fish
  4. cap — a lid
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. game — a match
  8. tube — the underground
  9. cold — an illness
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bass — low music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cap — of ice
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bore — to drill
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. cap — a hat
  24. bowl — a football final

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