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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. capital — a city
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. drill — the tool
  6. snap — to click
  7. drill — army training
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. tube — a container
  11. staff — employees
  12. tube — the underground
  13. stock — goods
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. stock — shares
  16. drill — a practice
  17. staff — a stick
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — a short time
  20. capital — money
  21. pitch — completely
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. staff — employees
  24. spell — letters

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