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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. land — ground
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. march — music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. land — to come down
  11. march — the month
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. hand — in cards
  14. tube — the underground
  15. land — a country
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. chair — a leader
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. hand — help
  24. chair — a professorship

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