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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — the underground
  3. file — a tool
  4. degree — an amount
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. degree — from a university
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. rest — a break
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. rest — what's left
  14. tube — a container
  15. degree — temperature
  16. file — a document
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — the amount
  20. mine — for digging
  21. file — a line of people
  22. sharp — clever
  23. rest — what's left
  24. content — happy

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