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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 120 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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bear — the animal
  3. tube — a container
  4. cold — not warm
  5. drill — army training
  6. chair — a leader
  7. bulb — for light
  8. tube — the underground
  9. branch — a division
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bear — the animal
  13. plane — a tool
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. bulb — for light
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. branch — of a tree

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