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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 · trunk · hand · spring · wound · object · wake · tube

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. spring — of water
  3. hand — help
  4. tube — a container
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. hand — in cards
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. object — to protest
  10. squash — to crush
  11. object — a thing
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wound — an injury
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. tube — the underground
  21. object — an aim
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. trunk — of a car

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