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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 116 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. suit — to fit
  3. suit — clothes
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. chair — a leader
  9. suit — in cards
  10. net — in sport
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. rush — hurry
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. tube — a container
  16. cold — not warm
  17. net — for catching
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. net — after costs
  24. mine — belonging to me

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