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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — a container
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. spring — the season
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. kid — child
  16. spring — of water
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wax — to grow
  20. snap — to click
  21. kid — to tease
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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