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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  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 — in a tire
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mate — a friend
  6. last — final
  7. capital — a city
  8. last — finally
  9. kid — child
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. rock — a stone
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rock — music
  16. mate — to breed
  17. mate — a partner
  18. tube — a container
  19. tube — the underground
  20. capital — money
  21. band — a music group
  22. last — to go on
  23. kid — to tease
  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