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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. branch — a division
  4. pit — in a race
  5. spring — a coil
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. spring — the season
  8. perch — the fish
  9. tube — a container
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pit — a hole
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bore — to drill
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. tube — the underground
  18. spring — of water
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. kid — child
  23. bore — to tire
  24. kid — to tease

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