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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tube — a container
  6. spell — magic
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. content — happy
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. spell — a short time
  12. bark — to shout
  13. pit — in a race
  14. pit — a hole
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. chip — for betting
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. shower — rain
  23. content — the amount
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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