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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. lean — to bend
  3. cell — a phone
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. craft — boats
  6. stem — to come from
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. craft — a skill
  9. tube — the underground
  10. spell — letters
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. game — wild animals
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. lean — thin
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. cell — in biology
  20. spell — magic
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. spell — a short time
  24. tube — a container

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