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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. firm — steady
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. clip — for paper
  8. squash — to crush
  9. firm — a company
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. clip — a video
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. field — a subject
  14. firm — decided
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. tube — a container
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. tube — the underground
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. squash — the sport
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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