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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. hand — in cards
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. field — for sport
  7. perch — the fish
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. bat — the animal
  10. field — a subject
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. key — for a lock
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. field — farmland
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. key — in music
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. tube — the underground
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. key — the most important part
  24. deal — to handle

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