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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: hand · shower · wind · tube · bay · roll · pit · board

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. hand — help
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. board — to get on
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. pit — in a race
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. tube — a container
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. wind — moving air
  13. roll — a list
  14. hand — in cards
  15. roll — a cake
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. shower — to wash
  18. tube — the underground
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wind — moving air
  21. board — a committee
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. shower — rain

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