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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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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: straw · kid · tube · wound · bowl · bound · dip · pit

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. pit — a hole
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. tube — the underground
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bound — certain
  8. pit — in a race
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — to sink
  17. kid — child
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bound — obliged
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. wound — an injury
  24. tube — a container

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