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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. game — a match
  3. track — to keep track
  4. wake — a trail
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — in sport
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. row — to paddle
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. track — a path
  15. track — a song
  16. tube — the underground
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. degree — temperature
  19. row — a line
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wound — an injury
  22. degree — from a university
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. wound — an injury

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