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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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. rush — hurry
  4. fork — in a road
  5. prune — to trim
  6. squash — the sport
  7. file — a tool
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. field — farmland
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. field — a subject
  13. tube — a container
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. tube — the underground
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. squash — to crush
  19. drill — army training
  20. field — for sport
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — the tool
  24. rush — a thrill

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