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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. key — for a lock
  3. tear — to rip
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. tube — a container
  6. game — wild animals
  7. tear — from crying
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. game — a match
  14. cold — not warm
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. cold — an illness
  17. key — the most important part
  18. craft — a skill
  19. key — in music
  20. rock — a stone
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. craft — boats
  23. rock — music
  24. cold — the Cold War

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