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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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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: tear · tube · plane · game · pitcher · stand · clip · track

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. clip — for paper
  3. track — to keep track
  4. tube — the underground
  5. stand — to bear
  6. game — a match
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. plane — a tool
  9. tube — a container
  10. clip — a video
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. track — a path
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. clip — to cut
  23. game — wild animals
  24. tear — from crying

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