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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. degree — an amount
  3. land — ground
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. season — of the year
  7. mug — a cup
  8. land — to come down
  9. root — the cause
  10. season — in sport
  11. mug — a face
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. row — a line
  14. tube — the underground
  15. row — to paddle
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. tube — a container
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. mug — to rob
  22. root — of a word
  23. land — a country
  24. root — of a plant

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