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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. spell — a short time
  3. cue — a hint
  4. wind — moving air
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. file — a line of people
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. spell — letters
  10. cap — a hat
  11. tube — a container
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. file — a document
  14. cap — a lid
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. cue — a signal
  18. kid — child
  19. file — a tool
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. cap — of ice
  23. spell — magic
  24. cue — for pool

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