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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 120 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: straw · last · bear · game · tube · mine · racket · pound

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — the underground
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. mine — for digging
  6. game — wild animals
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bear — the animal
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bear — the animal
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. last — finally
  21. last — to go on
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. last — final

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