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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: bowl · fan · pound · tube · spring · file · tear · wave

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tube — a container
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. spring — of water
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. file — a document
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — a weight
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. file — a line of people
  15. tear — to rip
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. spring — the season
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — the underground
  22. file — a tool
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. tear — from crying

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