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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. spring — the season
  4. face — to point toward
  5. swing — music
  6. tube — a container
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — to shout
  9. game — a match
  10. face — part of the head
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. tube — the underground
  14. mug — to rob
  15. spring — of water
  16. mug — a face
  17. swing — in golf
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. face — to confront
  21. spring — a coil
  22. swing — to play on
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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