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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. file — a document
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. squash — to crush
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. row — a line
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. tube — a container
  18. squash — the sport
  19. row — to paddle
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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