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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. land — ground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. mate — a friend
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. mate — to breed
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bear — the animal
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. bear — the animal
  15. land — to come down
  16. field — farmland
  17. bat — the animal
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. mate — a partner
  21. snap — to click
  22. land — a country
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. deal — to handle

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