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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. drill — a practice
  6. spell — a short time
  7. fine — high quality
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. tube — a container
  11. squash — to crush
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bore — to drill
  15. spell — magic
  16. bulb — for light
  17. spell — letters
  18. bore — to tire
  19. fine — all right
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. tube — the underground
  22. drill — army training
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. bulb — for light

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