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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. tube — the underground
  4. club — for golf
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. face — part of the head
  7. wound — an injury
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. key — in music
  10. key — for a lock
  11. mine — for digging
  12. cold — an illness
  13. club — for dancing
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. face — to confront
  19. club — a group
  20. cold — not warm
  21. face — to point toward
  22. key — the most important part
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mine — an explosive

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