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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. spring — the season
  3. shower — rain
  4. tube — the underground
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. shower — to wash
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. tube — a container
  10. kid — child
  11. stem — to come from
  12. spring — of water
  13. land — a country
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stock — goods
  16. land — ground
  17. spring — a coil
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. kid — to tease
  21. land — to come down
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. stock — shares

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