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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. staff — employees
  3. rash — a series
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. spring — a coil
  7. tube — a container
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. tube — the underground
  10. spring — the season
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. race — humankind
  15. staff — a stick
  16. rash — hasty
  17. race — a contest
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. staff — employees
  21. race — the arms race
  22. spring — of water
  23. cell — a phone
  24. rush — a thrill

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