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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. cap — a hat
  3. hand — help
  4. tube — the underground
  5. spell — letters
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. hand — in cards
  9. spell — a short time
  10. wax — to grow
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a lid
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. tube — a container
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. mine — for digging
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. spell — magic
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. hand — part of the body

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