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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bound — obliged
  4. tube — the underground
  5. tube — a container
  6. bound — tied together
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. root — of a word
  12. bound — certain
  13. last — finally
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. root — of a plant
  19. hand — in cards
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. root — the cause
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. hide — animal skin

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