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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. rock — music
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cell — a phone
  8. face — to confront
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tube — the underground
  11. rock — a stone
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. face — to point toward
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. bat — the animal
  17. tube — a container
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. face — part of the head
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. cell — in biology
  24. hide — to keep secret

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