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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: shower · game · clip · temple · tube · dip · content · ball

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. content — the amount
  3. dip — to sink
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. tube — a container
  8. clip — for paper
  9. content — happy
  10. shower — to wash
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. shower — rain
  14. game — wild animals
  15. clip — to cut
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. ball — a dance
  19. ball — a great time
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. tube — the underground
  22. clip — a video
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. ball — a round shape

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