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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cold — not warm
  5. march — the month
  6. tube — the underground
  7. drill — the tool
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. drill — a practice
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. ball — a great time
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. drill — army training
  19. march — music
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. march — the month
  22. tube — a container
  23. cold — an illness
  24. tube — in a tire

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