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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. bound — certain
  3. tube — the underground
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to confront
  9. bound — tied together
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. face — to point toward
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. bound — obliged
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. tube — a container
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. cold — not warm
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. cold — the Cold War

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