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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — to grow
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. tube — the underground
  10. spring — a coil
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — the arms race
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. spring — the season
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. race — humankind
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. band — a ring
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. tube — a container
  23. spring — of water
  24. band — a music group

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