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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. fine — high quality
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. last — to go on
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. fine — all right
  11. scale — in music
  12. sharp — clever
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. last — finally
  15. march — the month
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. tube — the underground
  18. last — final
  19. rush — hurry
  20. scale — size or range
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. march — music
  23. tube — a container
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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