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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 120 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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. drill — a practice
  12. drill — army training
  13. cold — not warm
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. lean — to bend
  17. tube — a container
  18. lean — thin
  19. cold — an illness
  20. shower — to wash
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. shower — rain
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. squash — to crush

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