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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. degree — an amount
  6. tube — the underground
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. spring — the season
  9. march — music
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. degree — from a university
  12. season — of the year
  13. field — a subject
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rush — hurry
  17. spring — of water
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. spring — a coil
  20. tube — a container
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. season — in sport
  24. march — the month

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