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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. That must've been a ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. fine — high quality
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. swing — in golf
  6. tube — a container
  7. clip — to cut
  8. swing — music
  9. clip — a video
  10. pit — a hole
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. tube — the underground
  13. rush — hurry
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. clip — for paper
  16. swing — to play on
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. cold — not warm
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cold — an illness
  21. face — to confront
  22. fine — all right
  23. face — part of the head
  24. pit — in a race

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