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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 120 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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. swing — in golf
  3. tube — the underground
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. saw — the tool
  6. lean — thin
  7. tube — a container
  8. shower — to wash
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. spell — magic
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. perch — the fish
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — music
  16. saw — the tool
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. stock — goods
  19. stock — shares
  20. spell — letters
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. lean — to bend
  23. spell — a short time
  24. shower — rain

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