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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: scale · tube · spring · bat · game · leaves · lie · pitch

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. spring — of water
  7. game — a match
  8. bat — the animal
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — in music
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. tube — a container
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. lie — to recline
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. pitch — completely
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. spring — the season
  22. game — wild animals
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. game — a kind of play

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