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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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. mark — to pay attention
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chip — for betting
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. kid — child
  9. tube — the underground
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. mark — a trace
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. pit — a hole
  15. land — to come down
  16. bark — to shout
  17. tube — a container
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pit — in a race
  20. wound — an injury
  21. land — a country
  22. mark — a grade
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — to eat

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