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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. tube — a container
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. band — a music group
  6. bore — to drill
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cold — an illness
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. band — a ring
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. clip — a video
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bore — to tire
  24. clip — to cut

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