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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. lean — to bend
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. lean — thin
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. wind — moving air
  10. last — finally
  11. march — music
  12. tube — the underground
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. chest — a box
  15. last — final
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. chest — of your body
  18. last — to go on
  19. wind — moving air
  20. march — the month
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. tube — a container
  24. chest — of your body

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