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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. tube — the underground
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. net — after costs
  6. date — the fruit
  7. net — for catching
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. pop — soda
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bore — to tire
  13. pop — music
  14. scale — size or range
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. tube — a container
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. kid — child
  21. scale — in music
  22. net — in sport
  23. bore — to drill
  24. pop — to visit

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