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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. rest — a break
  3. tube — a container
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fork — in a road
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — to grow
  17. root — of a word
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. root — of a plant
  20. chest — a box
  21. root — the cause
  22. rest — what's left
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. rest — what's left

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