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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. swing — to play on
  3. can — to be able to
  4. wake — a trail
  5. fall — the season
  6. tube — a container
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. tube — the underground
  12. scale — in music
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. scale — size or range
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. swing — music
  21. deal — to handle
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — an illness
  24. deal — an agreement

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