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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: craft · clip · march · tube · lash · roll · tear · chair

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. roll — a cake
  3. march — the month
  4. craft — a skill
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. march — the month
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tube — the underground
  9. clip — a video
  10. tube — a container
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. chair — a leader
  15. tear — from crying
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. tear — from crying
  18. march — music
  19. roll — a list
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. craft — boats
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. craft — a handicraft

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