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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · tube · snap · last · bulb · file · game · stock

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. tube — a container
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — shares
  8. last — finally
  9. last — final
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a tool
  12. bulb — for light
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. snap — to click
  17. file — a line of people
  18. last — to go on
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a match

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