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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. band — a music group
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stand — to bear
  5. swing — to play on
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. tear — from crying
  8. swing — in golf
  9. tube — the underground
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. scale — size or range
  17. swing — music
  18. tear — from crying
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. scale — in music
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. tear — to rip

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