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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. net — after costs
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — the underground
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bulb — for light
  13. net — in sport
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. fall — the season
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. fall — to drop
  19. net — for catching
  20. spring — of water
  21. date — the fruit
  22. spring — the season
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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