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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  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. rush — hurry
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bound — tied together
  6. rest — a break
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bound — certain
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. dip — to sink
  12. bound — obliged
  13. mine — for digging
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. game — wild animals
  16. tube — the underground
  17. game — a match
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. tube — a container
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — what's left
  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