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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bound — obliged
  4. pop — soda
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bound — certain
  9. kid — child
  10. cap — of ice
  11. tube — a container
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. tube — the underground
  15. file — a tool
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cap — a hat
  18. shower — rain
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — to visit
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bound — tied together
  23. file — a document
  24. shower — to wash

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