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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pop — to visit
  3. swing — music
  4. drill — a practice
  5. rash — hasty
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pop — soda
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tube — a container
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. last — final
  13. degree — an amount
  14. drill — army training
  15. tube — the underground
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. drill — the tool
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. swing — in golf
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. pop — music
  24. swing — to play on

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