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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. fall — to drop
  9. chip — to eat
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a match
  12. bark — to shout
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. tube — a container
  15. wound — an injury
  16. band — a ring
  17. fall — the season
  18. wound — an injury
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. band — a music group
  23. chip — for betting
  24. game — a kind of play

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