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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. spring — the season
  3. charge — electricity
  4. kid — to tease
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. kid — child
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. charge — in control
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. tube — the underground
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wind — moving air
  19. charge — a price
  20. wind — moving air
  21. game — wild animals
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. game — a match
  24. mine — for digging

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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