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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 116 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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. clip — a video
  3. pound — a weight
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. cap — of ice
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. bore — to drill
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rash — hasty
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. cap — a lid
  14. rash — a series
  15. tube — the underground
  16. bore — to tire
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. tube — a container
  21. stem — to come from
  22. cap — a hat
  23. clip — to cut
  24. rash — on the skin

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