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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. row — to paddle
  5. tube — the underground
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tube — a container
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bear — the animal
  12. row — a line
  13. file — a line of people
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. file — a document
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. file — a tool
  20. capital — money
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — child
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. leaves — lets stay

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