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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. track — a song
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. track — to keep track
  10. mine — for digging
  11. tube — the underground
  12. wax — to grow
  13. row — a line
  14. track — a path
  15. tube — a container
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wax — for sculpting

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