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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tube · wound · spring · coach · chest · net · swing · tear

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. net — in sport
  3. tube — a container
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. tube — the underground
  7. net — for catching
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chest — of your body
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. chest — of your body
  12. swing — music
  13. tear — from crying
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. swing — to play on
  19. swing — in golf
  20. chest — a box
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. net — after costs
  24. wound — an injury

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