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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. face — part of the head
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. tube — the underground
  8. face — to point toward
  9. face — to confront
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. land — to come down
  12. swing — to play on
  13. row — to paddle
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. kick — in football
  16. tube — a container
  17. row — a line
  18. swing — in golf
  19. land — ground
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. swing — music
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. land — a country

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