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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · tube · chest · cell · wake · sharp · bank · game

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. bank — for money
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tube — a container
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. tube — the underground
  11. cell — in biology
  12. game — a match
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bank — for money
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bank — of a river
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wake — a trail
  21. cell — a phone
  22. chest — of your body
  23. sharp — clever
  24. chest — a box

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