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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. chest — a box
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. branch — a division
  10. hand — help
  11. tube — the underground
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. game — a match
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. pass — a permit
  17. hand — in cards
  18. degree — from a university
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. degree — temperature
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mine — for digging
  23. degree — an amount
  24. hand — part of the body

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