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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — a country
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. file — a document
  10. date — the fruit
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. tube — a container
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. file — a tool
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. tube — the underground
  23. land — to come down
  24. date — on the calendar

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