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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · tube · cold · spell · chip · wound

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. tube — a container
  7. wound — an injury
  8. tube — the underground
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spell — magic
  12. chip — for betting
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chip — to eat
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wound — an injury
  18. spell — a short time

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