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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 116 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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spell — magic
  7. tube — the underground
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spell — letters
  13. band — a ring
  14. band — a music group
  15. tube — a container
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spell — a short time
  18. sharp — clever

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