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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: shower · tube · ball · file · field · trunk · clip · mark

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. ball — a dance
  3. field — farmland
  4. file — a document
  5. field — for sport
  6. shower — to wash
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. mark — a grade
  9. tube — the underground
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. file — a tool
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. field — a subject
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. clip — to cut
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. shower — rain
  19. clip — for paper
  20. ball — a great time
  21. clip — a video
  22. mark — a trace
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. file — a line of people

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