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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. ball — a dance
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. file — a tool
  6. squash — the sport
  7. file — a document
  8. band — a music group
  9. tear — to rip
  10. ball — a great time
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. squash — to crush
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. file — a line of people
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. tube — the underground
  21. band — a ring
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. cell — a phone
  24. ball — a round shape

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