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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. shower — to wash
  4. tube — a container
  5. season — of the year
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. shower — rain
  12. season — in sport
  13. tube — the underground
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bark — to shout
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. kid — child
  24. wax — in the ear

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