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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pitch — completely
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. swing — to play on
  6. tube — a container
  7. swing — music
  8. net — for catching
  9. wound — an injury
  10. degree — an amount
  11. swing — in golf
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cell — a phone
  14. net — after costs
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. net — in sport
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. degree — from a university
  19. tube — the underground
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. wound — an injury
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. cell — in biology

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