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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. file — a document
  4. tube — a container
  5. file — a tool
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wake — a trail
  9. fall — to drop
  10. perch — the fish
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. dip — to sink
  14. field — for sport
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. field — a subject
  18. fall — to drop
  19. kick — in football
  20. file — a line of people
  21. tube — the underground
  22. fall — the season
  23. field — farmland
  24. dip — to dunk

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