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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. field — farmland
  3. tube — the underground
  4. face — part of the head
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bulb — for light
  7. spell — letters
  8. can — a tin
  9. band — a ring
  10. field — a subject
  11. can — a tin
  12. spell — magic
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. can — to be able to
  15. tube — a container
  16. field — for sport
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. face — to point toward
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a music group
  21. bulb — for light
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. spell — a short time
  24. face — to confront

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