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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bulb — for light
  5. tear — from crying
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. tube — a container
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. tear — to rip
  10. face — to point toward
  11. mate — a friend
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bulb — for light
  14. tear — from crying
  15. game — a match
  16. mate — a partner
  17. mate — to breed
  18. face — part of the head
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. face — to confront
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tube — the underground
  24. mine — for digging

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