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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 116 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. mate — a partner
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mate — a friend
  5. tube — the underground
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. mate — to breed
  10. content — the amount
  11. band — a music group
  12. content — happy
  13. tube — a container
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. ball — a dance
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a ring
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. ball — a great time
  24. plane — a tool

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