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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: rule · degree · tube · saw · cold · bulb · sharp · staff

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  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. cold — an illness
  3. rule — government
  4. bulb — for light
  5. staff — employees
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — the underground
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — the tool
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bulb — for light
  19. rule — a law
  20. sharp — clever
  21. staff — a stick
  22. staff — employees
  23. degree — temperature
  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