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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. present — there
  3. present — the time now
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bank — of a river
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. drill — a practice
  11. file — a tool
  12. present — a gift
  13. tube — the underground
  14. scale — size or range
  15. bank — for money
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bank — for money
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — in music
  21. file — a document
  22. band — a music group
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — army training

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