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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. fall — to drop
  4. mine — for digging
  5. fall — to drop
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. fall — the season
  8. current — electric
  9. clip — to cut
  10. current — happening now
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stem — to come from
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. current — of water
  15. pound — a weight
  16. tube — a container
  17. clip — a video
  18. tube — the underground
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. club — a group
  23. club — for golf
  24. clip — for paper

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