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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. row — a line
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. spring — of water
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. ground — a position
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bear — the animal
  13. court — of a king
  14. ground — the earth
  15. spring — a coil
  16. row — to paddle
  17. spring — the season
  18. court — of law
  19. tube — a container
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. court — for sport
  22. bear — the animal
  23. tube — the underground
  24. ground — crushed

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