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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. field — a subject
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. fall — to drop
  6. spring — the season
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. spring — a coil
  10. clip — a video
  11. field — farmland
  12. charge — in control
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tube — a container
  15. fall — to drop
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — in music
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. tube — the underground
  20. field — for sport
  21. charge — electricity
  22. charge — a price
  23. clip — for paper
  24. scale — for weighing

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