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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: band · wound · toast · tube · chair · arm · craft · kid

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. wound — an injury
  3. craft — a skill
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. tube — the underground
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. wound — an injury
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. craft — boats
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. kid — to tease
  18. tube — a container
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. chair — a leader
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. kid — child
  24. toast — bread

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