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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. file — a line of people
  3. drill — the tool
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. wind — moving air
  7. drill — army training
  8. bear — the animal
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. cold — not warm
  11. file — a tool
  12. tube — a container
  13. season — of the year
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. file — a document
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — in sport
  20. bear — the animal
  21. drill — a practice
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wind — moving air

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