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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.

Words on the sheet
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: tube · band · charge · present · bark · net · bowl · cold

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  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. present — the time now
  3. charge — a price
  4. band — a music group
  5. charge — electricity
  6. present — a gift
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. net — for catching
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — in sport
  13. band — a ring
  14. tube — a container
  15. charge — in control
  16. present — there
  17. tube — the underground
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. net — after costs
  23. bowl — to roll
  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