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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. wound — an injury
  3. hand — help
  4. fall — to drop
  5. can — to be able to
  6. tube — the underground
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bark — to shout
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. tube — a container
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. fall — the season
  15. can — a tin
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wound — an injury
  18. hand — in cards
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. can — a tin
  24. bowl — a dish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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