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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. current — of water
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. season — of the year
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. current — happening now
  7. kid — to tease
  8. current — electric
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. kid — child
  12. tear — from crying
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. net — for catching
  15. tear — from crying
  16. deal — to handle
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — a container
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. net — after costs
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. bark — to shout
  24. season — in sport

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