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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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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: cell · wind · kid · mouse · march · tube · date · stick

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. march — the month
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. kid — child
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. march — music
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. march — the month
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. date — the fruit
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. wind — moving air
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. cell — a phone
  21. tube — the underground
  22. cell — in biology
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. tube — a container

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