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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. bear — the animal
  3. tube — the underground
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — a law
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. degree — an amount
  8. file — a document
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. branch — a division
  11. rule — government
  12. wound — an injury
  13. degree — from a university
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. tube — a container
  17. degree — temperature
  18. file — a tool
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bear — the animal
  24. mine — for digging

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