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

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kid — child
  4. shower — to wash
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. pop — to visit
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. band — a music group
  11. pop — soda
  12. capital — money
  13. kid — to tease
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pop — music
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. capital — a city
  22. shower — rain
  23. tube — the underground
  24. band — a ring

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