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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 124 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: wave · spring · rule · club · tube · perch · cold · press

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. spring — of water
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. club — for dancing
  9. cold — not warm
  10. club — for golf
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. press — to push
  13. tube — a container
  14. spring — a coil
  15. rule — government
  16. spring — the season
  17. press — a publisher
  18. club — a group
  19. perch — the fish
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. rule — a law
  22. press — newspapers
  23. tube — the underground
  24. wave — with your hand

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