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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. tube — the underground
  5. cold — an illness
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. root — of a word
  9. tube — a container
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pop — to visit
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. root — the cause
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. pop — soda
  21. pop — music
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. root — of a plant
  24. hide — to keep secret

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