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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. wound — an injury
  3. press — a publisher
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. present — there
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. kid — child
  9. wound — an injury
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. tube — a container
  14. capital — money
  15. present — a gift
  16. press — to push
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. tube — the underground
  20. present — the time now
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. capital — a city
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. press — newspapers

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