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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. capital — a city
  3. tube — a container
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. bore — to drill
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bore — to tire
  12. tube — the underground
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. scale — in music
  20. capital — money
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. snap — to click
  24. scale — size or range

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