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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. snap — to click
  4. tube — the underground
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. content — the amount
  7. spring — of water
  8. shower — to wash
  9. drill — the tool
  10. content — happy
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. tube — a container
  14. drill — army training
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. shower — rain
  17. fine — high quality
  18. drill — a practice
  19. fine — all right
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. bowl — to roll

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