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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  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. bowl — to roll
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. scale — size or range
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tube — a container
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. tube — the underground
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. scale — in music
  20. row — a line
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fork — in a road
  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