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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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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: game · mate · mouse · chest · bat · leaves · tube · tear

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. mate — a partner
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. tube — the underground
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. mate — a friend
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mate — to breed
  13. chest — a box
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tube — a container
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. game — wild animals
  19. tear — from crying
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bat — the animal
  22. chest — of your body
  23. game — a match
  24. mouse — for a computer

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