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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. swing — to play on
  3. field — farmland
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. swing — in golf
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. bank — for money
  11. clip — a video
  12. swing — music
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bank — for money
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — the underground
  21. bank — of a river
  22. field — a subject
  23. band — a ring
  24. field — for sport

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