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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. scale — in music
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. scale — size or range
  10. bark — to shout
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. saw — the tool
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pit — in a race
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. tube — a container
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pit — a hole
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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