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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — to drop
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. fall — the season
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bark — to shout
  10. tube — a container
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. land — to come down
  13. date — the fruit
  14. tube — the underground
  15. land — ground
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. land — a country
  18. date — on the calendar

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