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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. rush — hurry
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. face — to confront
  9. date — the fruit
  10. bore — to drill
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. wind — moving air
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. tube — a container
  15. face — part of the head
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. bore — to tire
  20. wind — moving air
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. face — to point toward
  23. tube — the underground
  24. date — on the calendar

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