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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. rush — hurry
  3. prune — to trim
  4. row — a line
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. spring — the season
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. row — to paddle
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pass — a permit
  14. mine — for digging
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. tube — the underground
  17. spring — a coil
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. pit — a hole
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. spring — of water
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. rush — to hurry

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