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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cold — not warm
  4. net — after costs
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. tube — a container
  7. net — in sport
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. object — to protest
  11. object — an aim
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. wax — to grow
  14. drill — army training
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cold — an illness
  17. drill — a practice
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. object — a thing
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rush — hurry
  22. tube — the underground
  23. drill — the tool
  24. net — for catching

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