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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. prune — to trim
  3. tube — the underground
  4. spring — of water
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. squash — to crush
  7. kid — to tease
  8. squash — the sport
  9. tube — a container
  10. file — a tool
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kick — in football
  15. file — a line of people
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. prune — to trim
  19. spring — a coil
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. foot — a measure
  22. file — a document
  23. spring — the season
  24. squash — the vegetable

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