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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. tube — the underground
  3. file — a line of people
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. file — a tool
  7. bat — the animal
  8. pass — a permit
  9. date — the fruit
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. bulb — for light
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. tube — a container
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bulb — for light
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. row — to paddle
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. file — a document

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