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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. firm — a company
  3. wound — an injury
  4. file — a tool
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. tube — the underground
  7. band — a ring
  8. spell — letters
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. spell — a short time
  13. firm — decided
  14. wound — an injury
  15. scale — in music
  16. firm — steady
  17. band — a music group
  18. branch — a division
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. file — a line of people
  22. spell — magic
  23. scale — size or range
  24. file — a document

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