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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. firm — steady
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. firm — a company
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. cold — not warm
  9. squash — the sport
  10. bark — to shout
  11. squash — to crush
  12. tube — the underground
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. firm — decided
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. cold — an illness

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