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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  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. squash — to crush
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. tube — a container
  5. squash — the sport
  6. stock — goods
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bass — low music
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. prune — to trim
  18. tube — the underground
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bark — to shout
  21. stock — shares
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bowl — a football final
  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