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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — to protest
  3. land — ground
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. tube — the underground
  6. spring — a coil
  7. march — the month
  8. spring — of water
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. march — music
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. object — a thing
  13. band — a music group
  14. land — a country
  15. deal — to handle
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. land — to come down
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. band — a ring
  21. tube — a container
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. march — the month
  24. spring — the season

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