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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. ball — a dance
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. tube — the underground
  6. ground — the earth
  7. scale — size or range
  8. content — the amount
  9. ground — a position
  10. season — of the year
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. scale — in music
  13. tube — a container
  14. sharp — clever
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. season — in sport
  17. content — happy
  18. ground — crushed
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. ball — a great time
  21. spring — the season
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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