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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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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: tear · tube · wind · present · hand · track

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. present — the time now
  4. tear — from crying
  5. track — to keep track
  6. tube — a container
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tube — the underground
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. track — a path
  12. hand — in cards
  13. present — there
  14. track — a song
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. present — a gift

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