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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. kid — to tease
  3. rule — a law
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. degree — from a university
  7. last — to go on
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. rock — a stone
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. fork — in a road
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rock — music
  14. degree — an amount
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. tube — the underground
  19. last — finally
  20. kid — child
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. last — final
  23. rule — government
  24. tube — in a tire

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