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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: last · wound · face · tube · foot · wake · prune · bat

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. last — final
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. face — to point toward
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bat — the animal
  13. wound — an injury
  14. face — part of the head
  15. wake — a trail
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — a container
  18. wound — an injury
  19. last — finally
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. foot — a measure
  22. last — to go on
  23. face — to confront
  24. foot — the bottom

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