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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 120 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bat — the animal
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. tube — the underground
  7. pop — soda
  8. tube — a container
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — a group
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. club — for golf
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — there
  17. present — the time now
  18. drill — a practice
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — army training
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — music

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