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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
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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: chair · tube · season · mine · bowl · last · rush · pop

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. last — final
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. season — in sport
  8. pop — to visit
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. pop — soda
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. tube — a container
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. pop — music
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — finally
  22. mine — for digging
  23. tube — the underground
  24. season — of the year

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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