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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: mug · mine · wake · wind · roll · tube · ground · degree

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wind — moving air
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. degree — from a university
  7. ground — a position
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. roll — a cake
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ground — crushed
  12. wind — moving air
  13. degree — temperature
  14. mug — a face
  15. mug — to rob
  16. degree — an amount
  17. ground — the earth
  18. mug — a cup
  19. wake — a trail
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. roll — a list
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. tube — the underground

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