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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: scale · date · tube · chest · wake · shower · game · bat

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. chest — of your body
  5. scale — size or range
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — the fruit
  8. chest — a box
  9. shower — to wash
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. game — a match
  12. shower — rain
  13. tube — a container
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. game — wild animals
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. tube — the underground

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