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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 116 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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. charge — a price
  4. prune — to trim
  5. scale — size or range
  6. file — a tool
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. charge — electricity
  9. game — a match
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. tube — a container
  12. file — a line of people
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. file — a document
  16. rest — what's left
  17. scale — in music
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. game — wild animals
  23. charge — in control
  24. prune — to trim

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