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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 124 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kid — child
  7. tear — from crying
  8. rule — government
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. wind — moving air
  18. kid — to tease
  19. rule — a law
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. wake — a trail
  24. foot — a measure

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