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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. squash — the sport
  3. squash — to crush
  4. field — farmland
  5. tube — the underground
  6. root — of a plant
  7. game — a match
  8. ball — a great time
  9. tube — a container
  10. wind — moving air
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. wind — moving air
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. field — for sport
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a word
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. game — wild animals
  22. field — a subject
  23. ball — a dance
  24. wind — to turn a key

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