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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. bat — the animal
  6. perch — the fish
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pass — a permit
  9. rock — a stone
  10. tube — the underground
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. field — a subject
  18. rock — music
  19. snap — to click
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. tube — a container
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pitch — completely

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