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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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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: wind · rest · nail · kick · tube · hide · content · field

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. tube — a container
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rest — what's left
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. content — the amount
  12. field — a subject
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. rest — what's left
  15. wind — moving air
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. rest — a break
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. kick — in football
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. content — happy

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