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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 120 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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. mine — for digging
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. cue — a hint
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. capital — a city
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. capital — money
  13. cue — for pool
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. tube — a container
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cue — a signal
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. leaves — lets stay

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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