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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. cold — not warm
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. game — a match
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rock — a stone
  10. tube — the underground
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. court — of a king
  13. tube — a container
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. stand — to bear
  16. rock — music
  17. cold — an illness
  18. court — for sport
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. court — of law
  21. shower — to wash
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. shower — rain
  24. cold — the Cold War

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