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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rash — hasty
  5. ground — the earth
  6. chair — a leader
  7. tube — the underground
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. ball — a great time
  10. roll — a cake
  11. clip — a video
  12. stem — to come from
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. ball — a dance
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ground — a position
  19. roll — a list
  20. ground — crushed
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. tube — a container
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. clip — for paper

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