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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pop — to visit
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tube — the underground
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. tube — a container
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. field — for sport
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pop — soda
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. pop — music
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. field — farmland
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. field — a subject
  22. date — the fruit
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. fork — in a road

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