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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. tube — a container
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. wind — moving air
  6. saw — the tool
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. stem — to come from
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. saw — the tool
  15. pound — a weight
  16. bulb — for light
  17. wind — moving air
  18. season — in sport
  19. tube — the underground
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. file — a line of people
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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