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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. tube — the underground
  4. bat — the animal
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. tube — a container
  7. firm — steady
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. stem — to come from
  11. firm — decided
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. current — electric
  15. current — of water
  16. sharp — clever
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. firm — a company
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. perch — the fish
  23. mine — for digging
  24. current — happening now

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