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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — a container
  4. track — to keep track
  5. degree — temperature
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. spring — of water
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. staff — a stick
  11. tube — the underground
  12. track — a path
  13. date — the fruit
  14. mate — a friend
  15. spring — a coil
  16. staff — employees
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spring — the season
  19. mate — a partner
  20. staff — employees
  21. track — a song
  22. degree — an amount
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. jam — a tight spot

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