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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. rest — what's left
  3. hand — help
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — not warm
  7. tear — to rip
  8. rest — what's left
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. stem — to come from
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tube — the underground
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. lean — to bend
  16. tube — a container
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. cold — an illness
  20. hand — in cards
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. rest — a break
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stem — of a plant

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