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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 120 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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. game — a match
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. tube — the underground
  6. spring — of water
  7. saw — the tool
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. saw — the tool
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. drill — the tool
  14. sharp — clever
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. squash — to crush
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. game — wild animals
  20. tube — a container
  21. dip — to sink
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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