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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. field — a subject
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. row — a line
  7. bear — the animal
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — for catching
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. net — after costs
  12. tube — the underground
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. field — farmland
  16. bear — the animal
  17. tube — a container
  18. field — for sport

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