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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tube — the underground
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. perch — the fish
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. plane — a tool
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. wake — a trail
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — in a road
  24. perch — for a bird

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