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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. lean — thin
  3. tube — a container
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. chip — to eat
  6. chip — for betting
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. tube — the underground
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. capital — a city
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. lean — to bend
  17. degree — temperature
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wind — moving air
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. degree — an amount
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. capital — money

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