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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. bear — the animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. capital — money
  6. degree — from a university
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. degree — an amount
  9. field — a subject
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. shower — to wash
  13. field — for sport
  14. capital — a city
  15. bear — the animal
  16. field — farmland
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. shower — rain
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — animal skin

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