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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: dip · wound · mate · tube · swing · cold · game · fan

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. tube — a container
  3. wound — an injury
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. game — wild animals
  8. swing — in golf
  9. mate — to breed
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. game — a match
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — to play on
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. tube — the underground
  19. mate — a partner
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cold — an illness
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — to sink
  24. wound — an injury

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