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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. band — a ring
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. fall — to drop
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. capital — a city
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. fall — to drop
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. rush — hurry
  13. pass — a permit
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a music group
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. tube — the underground
  19. capital — money
  20. fall — the season
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pass — to spend time

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