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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. degree — from a university
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. roll — a cake
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. roll — a list
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — army training
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. degree — temperature
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. date — the fruit
  20. ball — a great time
  21. drill — a practice
  22. tube — the underground
  23. degree — an amount
  24. ball — a dance

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