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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: plane · tube · straw · cell · kick · bark · file · cabinet

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. tube — the underground
  4. file — a tool
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. tube — a container
  13. file — a document
  14. bark — to shout
  15. cell — in biology
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. kick — in football
  18. plane — a tool
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cell — a phone
  24. file — a line of people

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