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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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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: face · cap · tube · game · drill · hand · object · pitcher

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. game — a match
  3. face — to point toward
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. hand — help
  6. face — to confront
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. object — an aim
  10. cap — of ice
  11. object — to protest
  12. game — wild animals
  13. tube — a container
  14. drill — the tool
  15. object — a thing
  16. cap — a hat
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cap — a lid
  19. drill — a practice
  20. tube — the underground
  21. hand — in cards
  22. drill — army training
  23. face — part of the head
  24. pitcher — a jug

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