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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: cold · wake · band · dip · tube · saw · bark · bowl

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. band — a music group
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. band — a ring
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bark — to shout
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — a container
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. saw — the tool
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. cold — not warm

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