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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: ball · row · tube · ground · bay · march · rush · cabinet

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. row — a line
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. tube — a container
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. ground — a position
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. march — music
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — the earth
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. tube — the underground
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. ball — a great time
  22. row — to paddle
  23. ball — a dance
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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