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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. game — a match
  5. land — ground
  6. tube — the underground
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. board — to get on
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. land — a country
  12. wake — a trail
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. tube — a container
  15. wax — to grow
  16. row — a line
  17. game — wild animals
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. board — a committee
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. row — to paddle
  23. land — to come down
  24. pitcher — a jug

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