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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 120 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. land — ground
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. clip — a video
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bulb — for light
  11. tube — a container
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. land — a country
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bulb — for light
  17. land — to come down
  18. kid — child
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cell — in biology
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. wake — a trail

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