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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: wind · face · land · cue · racket · drill · tube · cold

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cue — a signal
  4. drill — the tool
  5. drill — a practice
  6. tube — a container
  7. land — to come down
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cue — a hint
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. land — ground
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cue — for pool
  17. land — a country
  18. face — to confront
  19. face — to point toward
  20. tube — the underground
  21. cold — an illness
  22. drill — army training
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. racket — a loud noise

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