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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. roll — a cake
  6. bass — the fish
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tube — a container
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. kid — child
  11. face — part of the head
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. net — in sport
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bass — low music
  18. face — to confront
  19. tube — the underground
  20. mine — for digging
  21. net — for catching
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. roll — a list
  24. net — after costs

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