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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: charge · bat · wound · fall · track · tube · land · squash

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. track — a path
  3. tube — a container
  4. land — ground
  5. fall — the season
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. land — to come down
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. tube — the underground
  11. fall — to drop
  12. charge — in control
  13. charge — electricity
  14. squash — the sport
  15. fall — to drop
  16. charge — a price
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. land — a country
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. track — a song
  24. track — to keep track

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