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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. drill — the tool
  3. clip — to cut
  4. shower — to wash
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. fall — to drop
  10. drill — army training
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — music
  13. clip — a video
  14. fall — the season
  15. clip — for paper
  16. ground — a position
  17. drill — a practice
  18. fall — to drop
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — the underground
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. swing — in golf

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