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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pop — music
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. pop — to visit
  5. mate — a partner
  6. rush — hurry
  7. mate — a friend
  8. tube — the underground
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. press — a publisher
  12. capital — money
  13. press — to push
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. saw — the tool
  16. capital — a city
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. pop — soda
  21. tube — a container
  22. press — newspapers
  23. mate — to breed
  24. file — a tool

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