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

Word bank: tube · shower · saw · snap · band · kid · pound · perch

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. band — a music group
  5. shower — rain
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. snap — to click
  8. shower — to wash
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. band — a ring
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. tube — the underground
  14. kid — to tease
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. kid — child
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. perch — the fish
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. tube — a container
  24. pound — a weight

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