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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 120 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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. bat — the animal
  3. tube — a container
  4. hand — help
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. game — a match
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. rest — a break
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. tube — the underground
  15. wax — to grow
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a signal
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cue — a hint
  24. hand — in cards

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