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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 116 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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fall — to drop
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. fall — the season
  7. tube — a container
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. clip — to cut
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. bore — to drill
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. tube — the underground
  16. bore — to tire
  17. chair — a leader
  18. degree — temperature
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. clip — a video
  23. degree — from a university
  24. hide — to keep secret

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