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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. tube — the underground
  4. pop — soda
  5. tube — a container
  6. land — ground
  7. spring — of water
  8. pop — music
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. spring — a coil
  11. last — final
  12. scale — in music
  13. land — a country
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. pop — to visit
  16. scale — size or range
  17. land — to come down
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. spring — the season
  22. last — to go on
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. last — finally

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