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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tube · row · bat · squash · chair · spell · march · rest

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. row — a line
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — a break
  6. bat — the animal
  7. tube — the underground
  8. squash — the sport
  9. spell — a short time
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. march — the month
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. rest — what's left
  18. chair — a leader
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. spell — letters
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. squash — to crush
  24. tube — a container

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