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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. roll — a cake
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. cell — a phone
  7. spring — the season
  8. tube — the underground
  9. mate — to breed
  10. bore — to drill
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. bound — obliged
  13. fine — high quality
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mate — a friend
  16. roll — a list
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bound — tied together
  19. bound — certain
  20. cell — in biology
  21. spring — of water
  22. tube — a container
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bore — to tire

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