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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.

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: tube · hand · capital · clip · wave · row · date · hide

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. hand — in cards
  3. tube — the underground
  4. clip — to cut
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. row — to paddle
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hand — help
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. tube — a container
  12. row — a line
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. date — the fruit
  15. capital — money
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. capital — a city
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. row — a quarrel

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