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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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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. field — for sport
  6. capital — money
  7. tube — a container
  8. tear — from crying
  9. land — ground
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. capital — a city
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. land — a country
  15. field — farmland
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kick — in football
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. field — a subject
  20. tear — to rip
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. snap — to click
  24. land — to come down

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