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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: field · cold · bore · craft · swing · pound · lash · tube

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. swing — to play on
  5. tube — a container
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. craft — boats
  9. bore — to drill
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. bore — to tire
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. tube — the underground
  18. swing — music
  19. craft — a skill
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. swing — in golf
  24. cold — not warm

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