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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cold — not warm
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. tube — a container
  6. tube — the underground
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cold — an illness
  12. snap — to click
  13. track — to keep track
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. ground — crushed
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. track — a song
  21. bulb — for light
  22. ground — a position
  23. track — a path
  24. ground — the earth

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