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

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. spell — a short time
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a line
  10. bark — to shout
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — a container
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — letters

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