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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 116 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. wind — moving air
  3. clip — to cut
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. clip — a video
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. tube — the underground
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bound — certain
  10. bound — tied together
  11. chair — a leader
  12. land — to come down
  13. wind — moving air
  14. land — a country
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. bound — obliged
  20. land — ground
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pound — a weight
  24. wind — to turn a key

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