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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 · scale · wind · roll · saw · bat · sharp · mark

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. saw — the tool
  4. sharp — clever
  5. scale — size or range
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. roll — a cake
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. tube — the underground
  13. bat — the animal
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. mark — a trace
  19. scale — in music
  20. tube — a container
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. saw — the tool
  24. roll — a list

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