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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.

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: cold · march · face · tube · can · calf · club · root

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cold — not warm
  4. can — to be able to
  5. root — of a plant
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cold — an illness
  8. club — a group
  9. face — part of the head
  10. can — a tin
  11. root — of a word
  12. march — the month
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. march — the month
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. face — to confront
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — the underground
  19. root — the cause
  20. club — for golf
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. march — music
  24. can — a tin

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