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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — a container
  3. file — a document
  4. clip — for paper
  5. net — after costs
  6. cell — a phone
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. file — a line of people
  10. clip — to cut
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. file — a tool
  17. branch — a division
  18. clip — a video
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. chair — a leader
  23. tube — the underground
  24. cell — in biology

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