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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 120 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. club — for golf
  3. mine — for digging
  4. cold — an illness
  5. tube — a container
  6. object — a thing
  7. club — a group
  8. object — to protest
  9. cold — not warm
  10. club — for dancing
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. tube — the underground
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. object — an aim
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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