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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. file — a tool
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. season — of the year
  10. swing — to play on
  11. file — a document
  12. swing — in golf
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. tube — a container
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. swing — music
  17. wake — a trail
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. tube — the underground
  20. season — in sport
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. file — a line of people
  23. field — for sport
  24. wave — with your hand

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