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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. cue — a signal
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. spell — a short time
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. tube — the underground
  8. cue — a hint
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. tube — a container
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. spell — magic
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cue — for pool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. pitch — completely
  24. straw — dry grass

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