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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: bulb · kid · tube · drill · march · lie · bear · chest

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. drill — a practice
  3. kid — child
  4. chest — a box
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bear — the animal
  7. march — the month
  8. bulb — for light
  9. chest — of your body
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. drill — army training
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. drill — the tool
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. march — music
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bulb — for light
  23. tube — a container
  24. bear — the animal

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