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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: squash · roll · tube · bound · bear · last · clip · shower

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. shower — to wash
  3. last — final
  4. tube — a container
  5. bound — tied together
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. bear — the animal
  8. roll — a cake
  9. clip — a video
  10. bound — obliged
  11. clip — for paper
  12. squash — the sport
  13. clip — to cut
  14. last — finally
  15. tube — the underground
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bound — certain
  19. shower — rain
  20. roll — a list
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. last — to go on

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