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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. mug — a cup
  5. mug — a face
  6. tube — a container
  7. mug — to rob
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — for digging
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. net — in sport
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cold — an illness
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. net — after costs
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — in sport
  21. cold — not warm
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. net — for catching

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