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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 120 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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Word bank
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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. tube — a container
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. rush — hurry
  7. kick — in football
  8. tube — the underground
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. season — of the year
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. band — a ring
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. season — in sport
  20. band — a music group
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. capital — a city
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. capital — money

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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