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

Word bank: firm · shower · tube · mate · mine · chair · cell · wake

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mate — a friend
  6. chair — a leader
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — rain
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. mate — to breed
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cell — a phone
  13. firm — a company
  14. tube — a container
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. mate — a partner
  17. cell — in biology
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — for digging
  20. firm — decided
  21. firm — steady
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. wake — a trail

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