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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fine — all right
  4. row — a line
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. tube — a container
  8. cue — a signal
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. cold — an illness
  13. season — of the year
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cue — a hint
  16. cue — for pool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mine — for digging
  19. cell — in biology
  20. row — to paddle
  21. season — in sport
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mine — belonging to me

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