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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. tube — a container
  5. chip — to eat
  6. cell — in biology
  7. chip — for betting
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fall — the season
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. tube — the underground
  17. kid — to tease
  18. cell — a phone
  19. fall — to drop
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. fall — to drop
  23. kid — child
  24. bat — for baseball

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