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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. content — happy
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pop — music
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. mark — a trace
  8. tube — a container
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. pop — to visit
  11. mark — a grade
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cell — a phone
  14. field — for sport
  15. bore — to drill
  16. pop — soda
  17. bore — to tire
  18. tube — the underground
  19. field — farmland
  20. content — the amount
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. field — a subject
  23. cell — in biology
  24. perch — the fish

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