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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. tube — the underground
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. chest — of your body
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. date — the fruit
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. chest — of your body
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. tear — to rip
  19. wake — a trail
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tube — a container
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. pitch — completely
  24. cell — a phone

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