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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. tube — a container
  8. rest — a break
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. band — a ring
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cap — a hat
  20. tube — the underground
  21. band — a music group
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. rest — what's left
  24. hand — in cards

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