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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. tube — the underground
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. chest — of your body
  11. mug — a cup
  12. fall — the season
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. mug — to rob
  17. mug — a face
  18. spring — the season
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spring — of water
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. spring — a coil

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