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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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468
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: content · kid · march · pitch · band · plane · tube · field

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. kid — to tease
  3. tube — the underground
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. pitch — completely
  7. field — for sport
  8. band — a ring
  9. field — farmland
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. plane — a tool
  12. march — the month
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. march — the month
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. band — a music group
  17. march — music
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. field — a subject
  20. tube — a container
  21. content — the amount
  22. kid — child
  23. content — happy
  24. tube — in a tire

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