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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. file — a line of people
  6. tube — the underground
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. tube — a container
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. capital — a city
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. deal — to handle
  16. hand — help
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. capital — money
  21. file — a document
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. file — a tool
  24. deal — a big deal

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