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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. suit — to fit
  3. tube — a container
  4. mug — to rob
  5. mug — a face
  6. row — to paddle
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. squash — to crush
  11. mug — a cup
  12. suit — in cards
  13. tube — the underground
  14. game — a match
  15. row — a line
  16. clip — to cut
  17. squash — the sport
  18. clip — for paper
  19. game — wild animals
  20. clip — a video
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. suit — clothes

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