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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. pop — music
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. pitch — completely
  6. spell — letters
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. spell — magic
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. tube — the underground
  12. rest — what's left
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. rest — what's left
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bat — the animal
  18. tube — a container
  19. content — the amount
  20. pop — to visit
  21. rest — a break
  22. pop — soda
  23. spell — a short time
  24. content — happy

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