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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. land — a country
  3. wound — an injury
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. content — happy
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — the amount
  11. tube — the underground
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bass — low music
  14. tube — a container
  15. bass — the fish
  16. kid — to tease
  17. prune — to trim
  18. mate — a partner
  19. kid — child
  20. mate — a friend
  21. mate — to breed
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — ground

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