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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. cue — for pool
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. spell — a short time
  7. capital — a city
  8. cue — a hint
  9. field — farmland
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cue — a signal
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. spell — magic
  15. field — for sport
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. field — a subject
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. tube — the underground
  21. spell — letters
  22. capital — money
  23. tube — a container
  24. wound — an injury

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