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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. march — the month
  3. tube — the underground
  4. net — in sport
  5. rash — hasty
  6. net — for catching
  7. chest — of your body
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. march — the month
  11. press — to push
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. spring — of water
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. press — a publisher
  16. net — after costs
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bore — to tire
  19. press — newspapers
  20. chest — a box
  21. march — music
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — a series
  24. bore — to drill

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