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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — a container
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. tear — from crying
  6. hand — help
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — the time now
  9. tear — to rip
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. hand — in cards
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. mine — for digging
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. tear — from crying
  23. present — there
  24. tube — the underground

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