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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. content — the amount
  5. tube — a container
  6. row — to paddle
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mine — for digging
  9. squash — the sport
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. tube — the underground
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — happy
  16. squash — to crush
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pitch — completely
  19. plane — a tool
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. row — a line
  24. tube — in a tire

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