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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. tube — a container
  3. pass — a permit
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. present — a gift
  6. hand — in cards
  7. band — a ring
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. present — there
  11. kid — to tease
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. band — a music group
  17. wind — moving air
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. kid — child
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. tube — the underground
  22. present — the time now
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. wake — a trail

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