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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. march — music
  3. squash — to crush
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. tube — the underground
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. staff — a stick
  13. staff — employees
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cap — a hat
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. cap — a lid
  20. march — the month
  21. staff — employees
  22. chair — a leader
  23. cap — of ice
  24. march — the month

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