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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — in football
  5. row — a line
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. cell — in biology
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a music group
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. row — to paddle
  18. tube — a container
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cell — a phone
  21. perch — the fish
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. wax — to grow

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