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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. clip — for paper
  3. spring — the season
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. spring — of water
  8. cell — a phone
  9. spring — a coil
  10. tube — the underground
  11. cell — in biology
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. tube — a container
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. squash — to crush
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. object — an aim
  18. object — to protest
  19. clip — to cut
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. object — a thing
  22. clip — a video
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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