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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. rash — hasty
  3. tube — the underground
  4. field — a subject
  5. game — a match
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. row — a line
  10. field — farmland
  11. row — to paddle
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rash — a series
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. field — for sport
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. game — wild animals
  24. mouse — for a computer

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