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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: tube · land · drill · cell · rule · pitcher · wind · kid

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cell — a phone
  5. drill — the tool
  6. kid — to tease
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. wind — moving air
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. drill — army training
  11. land — a country
  12. rule — government
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. kid — child
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. rule — a law
  19. wind — moving air
  20. tube — a container
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. land — to come down
  23. drill — a practice
  24. land — ground

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