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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: tube · cold · wake · wound · object · row · kid · pop

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. pop — soda
  3. wound — an injury
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. object — an aim
  6. object — a thing
  7. cold — not warm
  8. row — a line
  9. pop — to visit
  10. tube — a container
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. row — to paddle
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. object — to protest
  20. pop — music
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. kid — child
  23. wound — an injury
  24. kid — to tease

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