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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. object — an aim
  3. object — to protest
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the sport
  7. deal — to handle
  8. band — a ring
  9. wound — an injury
  10. band — a music group
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. tube — a container
  14. bark — to shout
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cold — an illness
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. object — a thing
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. tube — the underground
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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