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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. tube — a container
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. kid — child
  7. tube — the underground
  8. squash — to crush
  9. court — of law
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. squash — the sport
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cold — not warm
  16. court — of a king
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. court — for sport
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. kid — to tease
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. cabinet — ministers

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