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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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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: mate · ground · tube · swing · straw · bulb · root · temple

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. swing — in golf
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. ground — crushed
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. swing — to play on
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. tube — the underground
  10. swing — music
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. root — the cause
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. root — of a plant
  15. mate — to breed
  16. root — of a word
  17. bulb — for light
  18. mate — a partner
  19. mate — a friend
  20. ground — a position
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. ground — the earth
  23. bulb — for light
  24. temple — side of the head

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