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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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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: file · mug · stock · season · tube · ground · current · cold

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. mug — to rob
  4. tube — the underground
  5. cold — an illness
  6. season — of the year
  7. ground — a position
  8. file — a tool
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. current — electric
  11. ground — the earth
  12. current — of water
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mug — a cup
  16. mug — a face
  17. season — in sport
  18. current — happening now
  19. cold — not warm
  20. tube — a container
  21. stock — shares
  22. file — a document
  23. ground — crushed
  24. stock — goods

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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