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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: wound · tube · bat · bowl · net · mine · sharp · pound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. net — for catching
  4. tube — a container
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. net — in sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. net — after costs
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — a weight
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — the underground
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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