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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. band — a music group
  9. scale — size or range
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. scale — in music
  12. tube — a container
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. kick — in football
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. kid — child
  22. tube — the underground
  23. fall — the season
  24. band — a ring

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