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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. tube — a container
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. cap — a lid
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cap — of ice
  8. rest — what's left
  9. band — a music group
  10. rest — what's left
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. spring — the season
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. hand — help
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. hand — in cards
  20. rest — a break
  21. tube — the underground
  22. deal — to handle
  23. cap — a hat
  24. band — a rubber band

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