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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. file — a tool
  3. pop — music
  4. capital — money
  5. pop — soda
  6. file — a line of people
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. chair — a leader
  9. pop — to visit
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. saw — the tool
  13. field — for sport
  14. capital — a city
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. file — a document
  18. saw — the tool
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. tube — a container
  24. tube — the underground

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