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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. last — finally
  6. cap — of ice
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. cap — a lid
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. last — final
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tube — the underground
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — for digging
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. last — to go on
  19. tube — a container
  20. scale — in music
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cabinet — ministers

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