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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. band — a music group
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. spell — magic
  7. snap — to click
  8. rash — a series
  9. game — a match
  10. spell — letters
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. tube — a container
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. face — to point toward
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. rash — hasty
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. band — a ring
  19. spell — a short time
  20. face — part of the head
  21. wax — to grow
  22. face — to confront
  23. tube — the underground
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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