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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. row — to paddle
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. file — a tool
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. band — a music group
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. row — a line
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. band — a ring
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. tube — a container
  15. mark — a trace
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. file — a document
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mark — a grade
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. file — a line of people
  24. spring — a coil

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