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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. spring — a coil
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. field — a subject
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. snap — to click
  11. tube — a container
  12. field — for sport
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. ball — a great time
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. field — farmland
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. spring — the season
  20. stand — to bear
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. ball — a dance
  24. spring — of water

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