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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. tube — a container
  5. pop — soda
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. pop — music
  8. drill — the tool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. drill — army training
  11. kick — in football
  12. ball — a great time
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — size or range
  15. chest — a box
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. rash — a series
  19. chest — of your body
  20. ball — a dance
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. drill — a practice
  23. rash — hasty
  24. kick — with a leg

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