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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: tube · straw · track · present · last · file · club · rash

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. present — a gift
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. present — the time now
  6. tube — a container
  7. last — final
  8. club — for golf
  9. club — for dancing
  10. rash — hasty
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. track — a path
  14. club — a group
  15. rash — a series
  16. file — a document
  17. present — there
  18. track — a song
  19. track — to keep track
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a tool
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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