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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. bat — the animal
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. staff — employees
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. spring — the season
  16. tube — the underground
  17. staff — employees
  18. spring — of water
  19. wound — an injury
  20. staff — a stick
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. tube — a container
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. saw — the tool

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