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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. shower — to wash
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. land — ground
  5. season — in sport
  6. field — for sport
  7. tube — a container
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. field — a subject
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. season — of the year
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. field — farmland
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. rush — hurry
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. land — a country
  20. land — to come down
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. tube — the underground
  24. chair — a leader

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