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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 116 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: face · game · bulb · tube · row · wound · squash · pop

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. tube — a container
  3. wound — an injury
  4. tube — the underground
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bulb — for light
  9. row — a line
  10. face — to point toward
  11. row — to paddle
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bulb — for light
  14. game — a match
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. pop — soda
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. face — to confront
  19. pop — music
  20. face — part of the head
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. pop — to visit

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