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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cell — a phone
  4. tube — the underground
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. spring — a coil
  8. date — the fruit
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. craft — boats
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. spring — of water
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. craft — a skill
  15. capital — a city
  16. kick — in football
  17. dip — to sink
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — in biology
  20. capital — money
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. tube — a container
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. date — on the calendar

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