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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 120 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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  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. mug — a cup
  2. chair — a leader
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. spring — the season
  6. game — wild animals
  7. spring — of water
  8. last — finally
  9. spring — a coil
  10. game — a match
  11. last — to go on
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. mug — to rob
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. dip — to sink
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. last — final
  19. tube — the underground
  20. tube — a container
  21. mug — a face
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. dip — a sauce
  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