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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. ground — a position
  5. cold — not warm
  6. band — a music group
  7. cold — an illness
  8. ground — the earth
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. fall — the season
  11. tube — the underground
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. fall — to drop
  16. branch — a division
  17. ground — crushed
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. tube — a container
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. band — a ring
  24. patient — a sick person

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