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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. clip — to cut
  3. tube — the underground
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. game — wild animals
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. fork — in a road
  12. game — a match
  13. lie — to recline
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. clip — a video
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. clip — for paper
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. lie — an untruth

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