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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 116 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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. content — the amount
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. rest — what's left
  5. content — happy
  6. rest — what's left
  7. hand — in cards
  8. tube — a container
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pitch — completely
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. rest — a break
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. cold — not warm
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. content — videos and posts

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