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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. season — of the year
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chest — of your body
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. spring — a coil
  7. season — in sport
  8. tube — the underground
  9. spring — the season
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — low music
  13. chip — for betting
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bound — tied together
  18. chest — a box
  19. chip — to eat
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. tube — a container
  22. spring — of water
  23. wake — a trail
  24. chest — of your body

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