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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. tube — the underground
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. file — a document
  6. kid — child
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. deal — to handle
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. bat — the animal
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. file — a tool
  23. pitch — completely
  24. tube — a container

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