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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. kid — child
  5. tube — a container
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — the fruit
  9. cell — a phone
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — music
  13. swing — to play on
  14. cell — in biology
  15. file — a tool
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. tube — the underground
  20. file — a line of people
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. file — a document
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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