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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. chair — a leader
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — low music
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. game — a match
  14. game — wild animals
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tube — a container
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. stem — to come from
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tube — in a tire

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