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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. tube — the underground
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. tube — a container
  5. net — after costs
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bank — of a river
  9. net — for catching
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. bank — for money
  12. clip — for paper
  13. chair — a leader
  14. clip — to cut
  15. land — a country
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. land — ground
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. net — in sport
  21. land — to come down
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. clip — a video
  24. chair — to sit on

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