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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cue — a hint
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. tube — the underground
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a line of people
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bulb — for light
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cue — for pool
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. bulb — for light
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. spring — the season
  18. cue — a signal
  19. spring — of water
  20. file — a tool
  21. tube — a container
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. pass — a permit

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