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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. content — happy
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — to grow
  6. scale — in music
  7. bass — low music
  8. branch — a division
  9. shower — rain
  10. content — the amount
  11. tube — the underground
  12. last — to go on
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. tube — a container
  17. bass — the fish
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. last — final
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. last — finally
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. shower — to wash
  24. scale — size or range

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