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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. spring — the season
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. deal — to handle
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. tube — a container
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. swing — in golf
  14. chair — a leader
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. tube — the underground
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chest — a box
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — to play on
  23. spring — a coil
  24. date — the fruit

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