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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — to push
  6. scale — size or range
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. tear — from crying
  10. current — happening now
  11. tube — a container
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cold — not warm
  15. press — newspapers
  16. bulb — for light
  17. tear — from crying
  18. scale — in music
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bat — the animal
  21. current — electric
  22. current — of water
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bat — in an idiom

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