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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. season — of the year
  3. face — part of the head
  4. capital — money
  5. season — in sport
  6. clip — for paper
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — to point toward
  9. shower — to wash
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. clip — a video
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. stand — to bear
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. tube — the underground
  19. capital — a city
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. clip — to cut
  23. shower — rain
  24. season — to add flavour

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