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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. chip — to eat
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bulb — for light
  9. file — a document
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. tube — a container
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. row — a line
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. tube — the underground
  23. row — to paddle
  24. chip — for betting

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