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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 116 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wound — an injury
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. land — a country
  6. land — ground
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bulb — for light
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. file — a tool
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — a container
  13. file — a line of people
  14. content — happy
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. file — a document
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. bulb — for light
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. land — to come down
  24. straw — dry grass

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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