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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. file — a line of people
  3. march — music
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. file — a tool
  6. bat — the animal
  7. kid — child
  8. fine — all right
  9. wake — a trail
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fine — high quality
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. march — the month
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. march — the month
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. tube — a container
  21. game — a match
  22. file — a document
  23. kid — to tease
  24. bat — for baseball

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