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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: wake · tube · march · row · mine · squash · trunk · rash

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. march — music
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. mine — for digging
  10. rash — hasty
  11. squash — to crush
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. row — a line
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. tube — a container
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. tube — the underground
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. rash — a series
  21. wake — a trail
  22. squash — the sport
  23. row — to paddle
  24. squash — the vegetable

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