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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — the underground
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bore — to drill
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. court — of a king
  9. press — a publisher
  10. hand — help
  11. court — of law
  12. press — newspapers
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. land — a country
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. court — for sport
  19. press — to push
  20. hand — in cards
  21. land — ground
  22. tube — a container
  23. land — to come down
  24. bore — gave birth

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