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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 120 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: foot · wave · rush · fine · hand · tube · game · row

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. rush — hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. hand — help
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — high quality
  8. row — a line
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. row — to paddle
  11. foot — a measure
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. tube — a container
  15. game — wild animals
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. tube — the underground
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. fine — a penalty

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