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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — the underground
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cell — in biology
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — a line
  8. stand — to bear
  9. squash — the sport
  10. chest — of your body
  11. row — to paddle
  12. tube — a container
  13. last — to go on
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. chest — a box
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. last — finally
  20. last — final
  21. cell — a phone
  22. squash — to crush
  23. field — for sport
  24. squash — the vegetable

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