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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. field — a subject
  4. clip — for paper
  5. march — the month
  6. lean — thin
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — to cut
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. lean — to bend
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. tube — the underground
  16. clip — a video
  17. march — music
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a city
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. lean — to rest against

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