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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. cold — not warm
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — in a road
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. rule — government
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. tube — the underground
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. tube — a container
  11. rule — a law
  12. bark — to shout
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. field — farmland
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cold — an illness
  24. safe — out of danger

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