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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. track — a song
  3. track — to keep track
  4. capital — money
  5. tube — the underground
  6. shower — rain
  7. track — a path
  8. cap — a lid
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. cap — a hat
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. capital — a city
  19. shower — to wash
  20. cap — of ice
  21. tube — a container
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. mine — for digging

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