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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. spring — of water
  4. tube — a container
  5. stand — to bear
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. capital — money
  8. cell — a phone
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. dip — to sink
  14. capital — a city
  15. snap — to click
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. present — a gift
  18. tube — the underground
  19. present — there
  20. present — the time now
  21. spring — a coil
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. cell — in biology
  24. spring — the season

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