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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: tube · board · kid · cap · dip · row · mine · wind

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. cap — a lid
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. dip — to sink
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a hat
  13. kid — child
  14. row — a line
  15. wind — moving air
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — to get on
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — to tease
  20. row — to paddle
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. tube — the underground
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. board — a committee

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