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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 116 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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — the underground
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — in sport
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. stock — shares
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cell — a phone
  12. net — after costs
  13. ball — a great time
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. scale — in music
  16. ball — a dance
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. cell — in biology
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — goods
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. scale — size or range
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. scale — for weighing

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