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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. net — for catching
  4. tube — the underground
  5. net — in sport
  6. drill — the tool
  7. club — for golf
  8. stem — to come from
  9. drill — a practice
  10. rest — what's left
  11. drill — army training
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. capital — money
  15. file — a tool
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. tube — a container
  19. club — for dancing
  20. file — a line of people
  21. net — after costs
  22. file — a document
  23. capital — a city
  24. club — a group

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