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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · wind · pitch · object · spring · chip · hand · tube

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  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. hand — help
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. chip — for betting
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. spring — the season
  12. wind — moving air
  13. deal — to handle
  14. object — an aim
  15. tube — the underground
  16. pitch — completely
  17. spring — of water
  18. tube — a container
  19. chip — to eat
  20. object — a thing
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. object — to protest
  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