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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: rest · track · tube · rule · race · band · present · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  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. net — after costs
  2. present — a gift
  3. rule — a law
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. rest — a break
  6. tube — a container
  7. track — to keep track
  8. net — in sport
  9. race — humankind
  10. rest — what's left
  11. race — a contest
  12. rest — what's left
  13. band — a music group
  14. track — a path
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. net — for catching
  17. rule — government
  18. band — a ring
  19. present — there
  20. race — the arms race
  21. track — a song
  22. present — the time now
  23. tube — the underground
  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