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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mug — to rob
  3. pitch — completely
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. tube — a container
  7. dip — to sink
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. mug — a face
  11. clip — to cut
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. tube — the underground
  15. land — a country
  16. capital — a city
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. clip — for paper
  20. capital — money
  21. clip — a video
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. land — to come down
  24. mug — a cup

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