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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. That was a fun ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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. game — a match
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. wound — an injury
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. prune — to trim
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. toast — bread
  10. game — wild animals
  11. object — to protest
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. sharp — clever
  15. tube — a container
  16. object — an aim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. object — a thing
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. wound — an injury
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a city
  24. toast — the most admired

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