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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. rock — music
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — a stick
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. tube — a container
  9. land — a country
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. rock — a stone
  13. kid — child
  14. tube — the underground
  15. staff — employees
  16. wake — a trail
  17. kid — to tease
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. swing — to play on
  21. swing — in golf
  22. tear — to rip
  23. swing — music
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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