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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. swing — in golf
  3. bound — tied together
  4. roll — a cake
  5. land — to come down
  6. tube — the underground
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. land — ground
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. chest — of your body
  12. swing — to play on
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. chest — a box
  15. swing — music
  16. land — a country
  17. bound — certain
  18. roll — a list
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. bound — obliged
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. tube — a container
  24. chest — of your body

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