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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. season — of the year
  4. fall — to drop
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rush — hurry
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — from a university
  12. clip — a video
  13. bear — the animal
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. roll — a list
  16. fall — to drop
  17. degree — temperature
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bear — the animal
  20. fall — the season
  21. clip — for paper
  22. season — in sport
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. tube — a container

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