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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cap · scale · prune · wave · tube · band · cold · trunk

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. band — a music group
  4. cap — a lid
  5. band — a ring
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. prune — to trim
  8. scale — in music
  9. cap — a hat
  10. tube — the underground
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. tube — a container
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. scale — size or range
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cold — an illness
  21. prune — to trim
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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