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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 124 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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. last — final
  3. tube — a container
  4. band — a ring
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. tube — the underground
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. ball — a great time
  11. last — finally
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. last — to go on
  14. wax — to grow
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. ball — a dance
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. press — newspapers
  20. press — a publisher
  21. band — a music group
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. press — to push

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