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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · hand · file · tube · straw · racket · club · drill

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. drill — army training
  3. club — a group
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. drill — a practice
  6. file — a line of people
  7. club — for golf
  8. spring — of water
  9. hand — in cards
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a tool
  12. spring — the season
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. hand — help
  17. club — for dancing
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. drill — the tool
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. tube — a container
  23. spring — a coil
  24. racket — a loud noise

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