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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. spring — a coil
  3. present — the time now
  4. tear — to rip
  5. file — a document
  6. present — there
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — in a road
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. present — a gift
  13. spring — of water
  14. band — a ring
  15. kid — to tease
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. tear — from crying
  20. spring — the season
  21. band — a music group
  22. file — a tool
  23. kid — child
  24. file — a line of people

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