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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. net — for catching
  3. cold — not warm
  4. can — a tin
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cold — an illness
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. track — a song
  9. saw — the tool
  10. net — in sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. can — to be able to
  14. squash — the sport
  15. track — a path
  16. net — after costs
  17. squash — to crush
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. track — to keep track
  20. tube — the underground
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. can — a tin

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